Vegan nut roast

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Vegan nut roast

this is all that was left...

I like nut roast and I especially like it with texture and some nuts that crunch. 

I made a vegan version this year, which was also gluten free, so no-one had any excuse for not eating it. In fact a lot of family had it alongside roast beef. We're a broad church - I'm not a vegetarian

Vegan nut roast

Equipment

large mixing bowl

knife and board

saucepan

2lb bread tin

Set oven to 180 degrees

INGREDIENTS 

Most of a butternut squash (I used the seeded end)

1 carrot

2 medium onions

1 heaped cup of mixed nuts (150g)

2 small cloves garlic

Salt and pepper

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp mixed herbs

1 cup cooked lentils

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup whole chestnuts chopped

2 eggs/egg replacement mix

METHOD 

Scoop out the seeds if necessary, peel and dice the squash, peel the carrots and finely dice onion

Fry all the veg gently in large pan, in one spoonful of olive oil until translucent - I put them on a low heat, put a lid on and let them stew

While veg are frying, chop nuts coarsely make sure you leave some whole

In a large bowl stir together chopped herbs, cooked lentils and breadcrumbs along with chopped chestnuts, chopped nuts and stir to mix

add your egg/egg replacement mix and stir until well combined

put into lined bread tin and pat down to compress

bake for 45 minutes uncovered -  the top will be golden brown

let your nut roast sit for a moment, turn out carefully, don’t tap it, and peel off the lining paper, use a very sharp knife to cut into slices

Serve with onion gravy or other veggie gravy

Onion gravy

ingredients

Two large onions, sliced

blob of butter or other fat

low salt veggie stock

pepper and salt to taste

equipment

saucepan

stick blender

wooden spoon

METHOD

fry onions over low heat until rich golden brown, stirring as you go

add vegetable stock

blend to a very smooth liquid, like single cream 

tip: if it isn't as dark as you want add soy sauce or marmite, checking salt level, or use very strong breakfast tea to make the veggie stock

serve with nut roast 

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Gluten free Yorkshire puddings

Your Yorkshire puddings will look like this

I've just cooked this batch of Yorkshire puddings to freeze for when we have our family gathering - not on Christmas Day this year. Although once my Christmas lunch guests know about them I may need them for the Christmas Day meal as well.

Since one daughter has been gluten free for a long time and another has recently found it helps her deal with some health problems, we will be eating GF. It's much more sociable. So it's gluten free stuffing/pate etc. Another daughter is now a vegetarian, so a nut loaf will also be served.

Anyway, Yorkshire puddings are the holy grail for those who like them, and I'm feeling lucky. I've found a recipe with three ingredients: cornflour, eggs and milk. You can add seasoning, however since the puds are really a receptacle for gravy, do you need to?

No electric whisk btw, save the splatters and use a large hand whisk. Let's go.

YORKSHIRE PUDDING RECIPE

Set oven to hot, 220 c

generously oil a 12 hole muffin tin or similar, including the top and edges of each hole

put the oiled muffin tin into the oven to get to sizzling point

Ingredients

200g cornflour
6 eggs
300 ml milk or nut milk/soya milk

salt and white pepper to taste

Method

• put cornflour in largish bowl adding salt and white pepper if you like
• whisk cornflour gently
• add the eggs and beat until smooth 
• slowly add the milk beating all the time
• when batter is silky like cream transfer it to a jug
• get the hot oiled muffin tin out of the oven and pour the batter into each hole - you should have enough to get nearly to the top of each one
• put the filled tin back into the hot oven and leave the puds for at least 20 minutes - it'll take 20-25 minutes for them to cook through. Checking on them by opening the oven door will ruin the rise, so don't open that door

Old school weights

I've given up on digital scales, the battery kept running out. And I found these lovely weights that look like a pagoda when stacked.

Peanut butter flapjacks

flapjacks

A reorganisation of my kitchen revealed something that appears to be an intermittent habit of mine: repeat purchases. I buy the same ingredient again and again, even though I've already got a stash in store. My new larder layout showed what was what and rolled oats led me to flapjacks.

Peanut butter appears to be another weakness. 

Throw in some linseeds, currants and sunflower seeds. Yes, it's what modern marketing calls a power bar apparently.

I use a small roasting tin, lined with a silicone sheet. It measures 8x12" (20x30cm). So, adjust the quantities according to the size of your tin. Or use a tin the same size as mine.

Flapjack recipe

Ingredients
200g butter or margarine (in this case less the weight of two heaped tbsps peanut butter)
100g soft brown sugar
200g golden syrup
500g oats

50g sunflower seeds

2 tbsp linseeds

100g currants

Set your oven to Gas Mark 5/375/190

Method
Line your baking tin with baking parchment.

• Put the oats, nuts, fruit, in a large mixing bowl.
• On a low hear, gently melt the butter/marg in a saucepan. Once it has melted. Add the sugar and golden syrup, keeping the heat low, stirring all the time. (If you let it bubble it may start to crystallise, and not mix completely with the oats).
• Once everything in the pan is melted and mixed up nicely stir in the oats, until the liquid coats the oats evenly. Stir the oat mixture up well, so that the oats soak up the liquid well.
• Put the sticky oat mixture into the tin, spreading it evenly to the edges and tamping it down, to make it an even depth. 
• Cook for 20-30 minutes, until the surface of the mixture is slightly golden. 
• Take out of the over and allow to cool. 
• When flapjacks are tepid, cut into squares, using a sharp knife. If you cut from the outside edge into the middle, it'll be a cleaner cut.

Don't eat too much at once, because you might get tummy ache. Or, live dangerously, and eat it all at once. Or as much as you like. It's your life, your stomach. They're pretty good flapjacks.

Vintage 2008 Christmas Cake slow reveal

Just found at the back of the cupboard, cake baked and packed in 2008

Christmas is a time to eat rich food, and occasion cooking can be done in batches. I've just found a cake I baked in 2008 and put away. I am pretty sure that we ate the other one. I may have made three, it's hard to remember. This package shows that in a moment of culinary clarity I wrapped, tied up and labelled this cake and put it into a large tupperware box. I do have tins, but I wasn't feeling that scenic.

I used old string, and the string is now redolent of dried fruit, and seems slightly waxy. I used a granny knot. The greaseproof paper outer wrapping is folded over on itself, making a nice closure, and the paper is slightly tinged with a tan colour, leached from the brown sugar and dried fruit. The cake is heavy in its dry, aged state, and will be a good deal heavier once it has been doused with alcohol.

I hope it will cut into thin slices, like an english version of cakey panforte, but of course better. I want to eat it with a demitasse expresso. Or maybe a mug of strong tea.

folded over greaseproof paper 

The smell as I unwrap it is deep dark and fruity and the cake is so weighty. I imagined as I pulled the paper away that if I threw it across the room it would break into crumb and fruit - I didn't throw it.

The recipe I've used is the on my mother used, it's from a Times Newspapers cookery book, which I can't find right now, I'll add the recipe later. 

Here it is, bottom side up. slightly stained label. I'm please to see that I wrapped around the paper and tucked it into itself. The folding and tucking of the greaseproof paper is part of the ceremony of baking a cake like this. I'm trying to remember the smell in the kitchen as it baked slowly in the oven, with a gentle spice mix.

 The shadow stain of the cake is clear, marking eleven years of waiting.

Turning it over the cake is nicely shrouded, like a shy women in a voluminous scarf, or a poorly disguised fruity ET, bike and body omitted.

I'm using brandy. I've made holes in the base with a knitting needle. I'm getting slightly heady on the evaporating alcohol. Once this round of booze soaks in, I may put in some more.

It took four tablespoonfuls.

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