Grow your own:
Nasturtium “Capers”
Nasturtiums
are wonderfully colourful summer plants with big blousy flowers. Both the
leaves and the flowers will brighten up any salad with the colour and peppery
flavour. But don’t pick all the flowers;
leave plenty to go to seed. Pick the seeds (they’re peppery too) when they’re
fresh and green. This is a great way to add that peppery flavour to winter
salads and vegetables. They only take a few days to ferment, but I have kept
the fermented jars successfully in the fridge for up to 6 months.
1 or more
cups Nasturtium seeds, fresh
Sea Salt (or
Himalayan)
Filtered
water
1.
Rinse the seeds in plenty of water to allow any
old dried flower parts to float to the surface. Make sure you have no stalks
remaining on your seeds before packing them into small clean glass jars.
2.
Make a 4-5% brine by mixing a good 2 tsp salt
into 250ml filtered water. Fill the jars with the brine, making sure the seeds
are well covered. However, they will float to the surface so find a small glass
pebble to keep them below the surface. Put the lid on the jar, remembering to
release any pressure daily.
3.
They only take 3-4 days to ferment. If you want
to keep them through the winter, put them in your fridge as soon as you’ve made
them and let them mature slowly in the fridge.
Suffolk Kimchi, or Sauerkraut with Attitude
Koreans are hooked on kimchi:
average daily consumption is 125g per person.
The Korean recipe calls for Chinese cabbage, but as I haven’t seen one
around these parts for a while, I use pointy cabbage (or hispy) and find that
it works well. Although this may sound
very hot, the fermenting process tempers the heat. This recipe is open to your own variations in
vegetable content and flavours. I find I don't need to add the chilli: ginger gives it's own heat and is great for the gut (whilst many a sensitive gut reacts to chilli)
½ Pointy cabbage
1 Carrot
4 Red radishes
2” piece Daikon radish or ½ small turnip
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
½ Red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
2 tbsp finely grated Ginger
1 Onion, finely diced
1-2 strips Wakame seaweed, cut into small pieces (optional)
500 ml water with 10 ml (2 teasp) sea salt mixed in (2% brine)
- Finely chop cabbage, slice the carrot, radish/turnip, place in a bowl and sprinkle a little salt over. Gently massage with your clean hands, until they begin to become damp with the liquid coming out of the vegetables.
- Mix the spices to a paste with the diced onion and mix into the veggies along with the seaweed.
- Place the veggie mix into a glass jar and press down well, leaving about 5cm space to the top. Place a piece of cabbage leaf or a glass pebble to hold the veggies down below the surface of the liquid. Add the brine mix to about 2cm above the cabbage surface.
- Leave to ferment at 13-17 deg C (larder or cool cupboard) for about a week, checking daily to ensure contents stay under the brine surface.
- Move to a cold place or your fridge. It will keep for few months (if it’s not eaten first!)
Chocolate "Mousse"
Serves 4-6
Neither containing chocolate, nor a mousse in that it is egg and dairy-free, this dessert hits the "yum" button while allowing sensitive souls to sleep soundly after consuming late in the evening.
500ml rice dream
2 tbsp agar agar flakes
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp carob flour mixed in 50ml water
3 - 4 tbsp rice syrup or other sweetener to taste
1 tbsp arrowroot, mixed into a little water
Orange zest or toasted hazelnuts
Strands of orange zest to garnish
Pour rice milk into large saucepan. Sprinkle agar flakes over and bring
to boil. Stir in carob mixture and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to dissolve agar flakes. Add arrowroot, stirring in
to thicken. Stir in tahini and sweetener.
Blend, then pour into a large bowl. Mix in orange zest. Allow
to cool and set. Use a whizzer to blend once set and it will fluff into
a mousse-like consistency. Alternatively, you could pour into
individual serving dishes to allow it to set.
Garnish with strands of zest, or halved toasted hazelnuts.
Serve with cashew nut cream
Cardamon and Orange Jubbly
Serves 6
2 cups almond milk or rice dream
2 tbsp (gently heaped) Agar agar flakes
3-4 cardamon pods
Pinch sea salt
200g ground almonds
1/3 to ½ cup rice syrup
Grated zest of ½ orange
Small, whole mint leaves for garnish
Pour almond or rice milk into a saucepan, sprinkle with the agar flakes and add
cardamom pods, salt and ground almonds. Bring to boil and simmer (just
bubbling) for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to dissolve the agar flakes.
Remove cardamom pods, add rice syrup to taste (remember that hot liquid
will taste sweeter than the cooled item) and whiz with hand-held whizzer to
ensure it’s as smooth as possible. Add grated zest and pour into a dish. Leave
to set in a cool place.
Slice into small blocks or diamond shapes and serve garnished with small mint leaves.
Beetroot Dip
Serves 4-6
I have to thank Montse Bradford for inspiring this recipe, which makes a fantastic starter or snack, or serve as part of a meal.
3-4 medium beetroot (or you can used ready-cooked)
1 tbsp ume plum seasoning
2 tbsp peanut butter (or tahini)
grated zest of 1 lemon
Place the whole beetroot in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer until just soft (30-50 minutes). Run under cold water and flake off the skins. Roughly cut the beetroot, place in a deep bowl and blend with the other ingredients (take care not to spatter this around, beetroot makes a great dye!). Adjust the flavours.
Serve cooled with vegetable crudites and or crackers.
Apple and Blackberry Temptation
Serves 6
4 Sweet apples, medium (Cox's are great)
1 tbsp Apple concentrate
1 cup Blackberries
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup rice syrup
1 egg (optional)
Almond essence
150g Ground almonds
100g Flour (I use gluten-free)1 tsp wheat-free baking powder
Flaked almonds (optional) to decorate
Arrowroot to thicken (sauce)
Heat oven to 180 deg C or Gas 4.
In a large bowl whisk sunflower oil and rice syrup until emulsified. Add egg and a few drops almond essence and whisk thoroughly. Gently whisk in ground almonds. Finally fold in sieved flour and baking powder.
Spread this mix over the fruit in the dish.
Sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and cooked.
Simmer the retained liquid in a saucepan with the remaining blackberries for about 5 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Mix 1tsp arrowroot with a little cold water and stir in to thicken. Add a little apple concentrate to taste, if needed.
Serve slices of the pie with the blackberry sauce and, if you want to indulge, a little soya cream.
Tempeh in Mushroom Sauce
Serves 3-4
1 block Tempeh (200g) cut in triangle chunks
Marinade:2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1-2" Fresh ginger, finely grated
1/2 tbsp Apple concentrate
1 tsp Mustard
1 tbsp Water
1 Onion finely sliced
1 Carrot, cut into matchsticks
200g Mushrooms, sliced
Arrowroot to thicken
Marinate tempeh in marinade ingredients for up to 1 hour.
Heat some oil in a large pan and gently saute onions. Add tempeh triangles and fry until golden brown. Add mushrooms and saute further. Add carrots and the marinade sauce and water to half cover. Simer for 5-10 minutes. Mix a tsp of arrowroot with a little cold water and add to the pan, stirring in quickly; add extra if needed.
Serve garnished with finely sliced spring onions.
Go to http://www.freshtempeh.co.uk/ for fantastic fresh tempeh made in Suffolk and posted to you. Good value and yummy!
Aduki Bean Winter Stew
Aduki beans
2" piece kombu seaweed
Onions, finely diced
Winter or butternut squash, finely diced (peel butternut)
1/2 to 1 tsp dark miso per person
1/2 to 1 tsp white miso per person
Fresh ginger, about 1", finely grated
Soak aduki beans in water overnight in a pressure cooker. Discard water, add kombu and cover well with fresh water and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that forms. Put on the lid and pressure cook for about 10 minutes. Bring down from pressure, add onions and squash. Replace lid and bring back to pressure for a further 10 minutes. Bring down from pressure. Pour off excess liquid and save for making sauces, soups etc. Add a few tbsp of the cooking liquid to the miso and mix thoroughly. Add this and the grated ginger to the beans and vegetables. Adjust flavours.
Serve with brown rice and green leafy veggies.
