 7 February 2025 (Friday)
It’s grey, and is going to be so all day AND getting wet later so I’m glad that we got to Kew yesterday. I get on with some work work, which I try to keep off from doing on Friday's, though sometimes when the weather's not playing ball the best thing to do is work work at my desk and get ahead for the following day or, in this case, week. Tonight’s meal will be easy, as it’s the leftovers of two of last night’s meal items, Butterbean, Caramelised Red Onion & Carrot Stew and also the Braised Red Cabbage. Instead of baked potatoes though we'll be having wholemeal couscous (the wholemeal couscous being an absolute favourite of Richard). Now, this meal actually came together, or rather sort of did not come together two days ago, on Wednesday afternoon. I'd spent time at the plot and got back intending to cook the stew and the braised cabbage for our evening meal... though, basically, nothing went to plan! It happens sometimes, and I always think that inexperienced cooks might just give up, bin whatever's in the pan and reach for a phone to dial a meal to their door... however a meal's a meal and it's very unlikely that something delicious and edible won't come from a disaster of a cooking day! Butterbean, Caramelised Red Onion & Carrot Stew I’d already soaked the dried butter beans (250g) for a day, changing the water three times. As I was back from the plot later than I'd expected, I thought I'd speed up the cooking by giving the butter beans a quick pre-cook in the Instant Pot (High Pressure for 20 minutes). I could then add them to the caramelised onions and carrots and pop in the oven to finish off for an hour... best laid plans, etc. Whilst the butter beans were having a pre-cook I sauteed red onion slowly in the casserole on the stovetop in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once they'd began to soften and brown, I added six carrots that had been cut into hefty slices, and a few tablespoons of apple juice from a measure of 500ml (two cups). I gave all a good stir, brought to a bubble and then popped the lid on… at this point forgetting to turn the heat down to a low simmer! About fifteen minutes later, as I sat in the middle room engrossed in my book, a delicious smell of onions, sweet apple, carrots and a background of butter beans was wafting through the air. Yum! As Cal McGill was fending off the calls of journalists (The Sea Detective - very much worth a read!) my nose picked up another smell... a slight burning smell… definitely NOT yum!! Jumping quickly from my chair, I immediately realised I'd lost track of time AND not set any timer and, on lifting the lid, saw the mixture had dried out rather a lot as I’d also left it on too high a heat by mistake. The result was the red onion was WELL caramelised… as were quite a few chunks of the carrots. However, not to be beaten I took the pan off the heat, added the rest of the apple juice and popped the lid on immediately. Now, adding the apple juice would deglaze the pan, though to what extent all would be burnt I’d have to wait and see. After five minutes, I lifted the lid, gave all a stir, and saw that this was not a lost cause... it very rarely is. I added two level teaspoons of mixed herbs, took the butter beans out of the Instant Pot with a slotted spoon and popped them into the casserole, and then added two tablespoons of miso, carefully stirring it thoroughly until the paste was fully dispersed. Then I added about another 500ml of the cooking liquid from the Instant Pot to the casserole, stirred through then popped the lid on and then into the oven at 160c for an hour or so. With all the delays and the kerfuffle of me having a bad cooking day, I changed Wednesday’s meal to something simple, and we had the casserole on Thursday and Friday night instead. So, back to today and I put the oven on to reheat the casserole - again about 160° - and as the oven was going to be on for another hour or so, I popped two proper baking potatoes in the to have with the stew, and wanted another veg too, so I did a Braised Red Cabbage in the Instant Pot. Braised Red Cabbage (Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker version) This is a delicious spiced braised red cabbage. Ingredients 1 red onion (225g), chopped 1 lb red cabbage (450g), core removed, quartered and each quarter sliced thinly 75g sultanas (optional) 1/2 cup apple juice 4 cloves garlic 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1 tbsp honey 2 tbsp cider vinegar 1 tbs liquid aminos or soy sauce Salt & Pepper if needed and as desired Method Put the ingredients into the Instant Pot cooking bowl in the order listed. Lock the lid, turn the steam vent to 'sealing' and set the cook time to 5 minutes at High Pressure. After it has come to heat and pressure, and after it has cooked for the requisite time, manually release the pressure with a wooden spoon. You could cook on high pressure for 3 minutes and then let it do a natural release instead. If you wanted to cook this on a hob instead of a pressure cooker I would expect it to take 30 minutes on a lowish heat (make sure you bring it to a bubble first), stirring every five minutes, and with a lid on. Weather: Grey, getting rather wet. Around 5°. Breakfast: Bran Sticks, yogurt, oat milk, a few freeze-dried strawberries Lunch: A soup of a small portion of curry from the freezer, defrosted and mashed and mixed with soften red lentils, homemade hummus, pitta, carrot batons and cucumber slices Supper: Butterbean, Caramelised Red Onion & Carrot Stew, Couscous, Braised Red Cabbage - apart from the coucous leftovers from yesterday.
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 29 January 2025 (Wednesday) Well, quite a tumultuous week so far. A desk day, and Richard has news… we'll have to wait on this though. The highlight of today… Smoked Tofu & Red Kidney Bean Burgers! Recipe: Smoked Tofu & Red Kidney Bean Burger These have developed over a period of time. They started as Sweet Potato and Red Kidney Bean Burgers, though I always felt they were missing something - nice, though nothing to write home about. On opening one of my spice drawers a few weeks ago, I spotted the lovely smoked paprika I get from For Earth’s Sake, and on opening the cupboard below the drawer (where tins are kept) I saw some red kidney beans and thought… “Ahhh”. I followed on the “Ahhh” with an “Oooh” as I remembered that a few months ago I had bought some smoked tofu and popped it in the freezer. “What if I mix them all together and get a lovely smoky beanie burger?” After a few trials, a new recipe is born… Ingredients: 200g Smoked Tofu, mashed 1 Red Onion Grated Sweet Potato (200g ish) 400g Tin Red Kidney Beans, rinsed, drained and mashed (if you cook your own beans, use about 250g of cooked beans) Tablespoon Olive Oil Rounded Teaspoon Smoked Paprika Tablespoon Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce Tablespoon Miso Paste Tablespoon Tomato Paste 2 rounded tablespoons Yeast Flakes 3 rounded tablespoons gram flour, vital wheat gluten or plain flour. Method: Rinse and well drain a tin of kidney beans, pat dry (if you have time), and then mash most of the beans in a bowl with a fork. Set this aside for using shortly. Remove the tofu from the packet and pat dry, then lightly mash with a fork. Add a small red onion, finely chopped, and grate a small’ish sweet potato (no need to peel, though cut of growing end) into the tofu and onion. Give all a stir, then add the olive oil, smoked paprika, liquid aminos (or soy), miso paste, tomato paste and yeast flakes and give all a thorough mix, making sure each ingredient is well incorporated. Then add in the mashed red kidney beans and again give all a thorough mix.  At this stage, the mix will be a little moister than we want, so add in the gram flour (or VWG / Plain flour) one spoon at a time, giving a good mix after each addition. If the kidney beans and tofu were patted dry well then once all the gram flour is incorporated the mixture will be much firmer. If it’s not, feel free to add another tablespoon of gram flour. Leave the mixture aside for ten minutes, just to get to know itself. After this time, portion the mix up into four and with slightly wet hands shape four burgers, either round and fat flatter if that’s how you like them - though not too thin! Set the burgers on a plate to rest. These burgers can be pan fried, baked in the oven, or even under a grill (though not on a rack, as they are then difficult to flip). I prefer to bake these, so here goes. Preheat an oven at 180C. Immediately pop in a baking tray to heat as the oven does, then once the oven is up to temp remove the baking tray using oven gloves, spoon a teaspoon of olive oil on and roll this around to roughly coat the base of the tray. Carefully add the burgers one by one, put a few drops of olive oil on each burger, and then pop the baking tray back in the oven. Cook for ten minutes, remove the tray (oven gloves again!), carefully flip the burgers over, pop the tray back in the oven and cook for a further 12-15 minutes, or until they are taking on some colour. If you wish to pan fry or grill, do so over a medium heat for the same cooking time, flipping the burgers over as above after ten minutes. Serve with the toppings and sides of your choice! I guarantee you will be making these again!! Weather: A bland sky first thing, so pale and dull. The day overall was grey… Breakfast: Bran Sticks, yogurt, oat milk, banana Lunch: Lidl Lentil Soup (tin), red lentils and final leftover of the Instant Chilli Supper: Smoked Tofu & Red Kidney Bean Burger, Lidl Skin On Fries, Grated Carrot salad (carrot, onion, celery, cucumber, radish in a grain mustard dressing) We recorded Sunday Chat relatively early, and then had a really early lunch. After finishing an episode of Hart to Hart, I got changed, got down to the plot and started work on a bed.
It's a bed that had nothing growing in it last year, and on taking off the plastic cover the top surface was full of bindweed. After about an hour, the whole bed had been forked over and weeded really well, leveled off with a rake and is ready for topping with cardboard and compost at some point next week. It feels as though it's been a busy day, and certainly busier than I’d anticipated, especially as I’ve another day at For Earth Sake’s this week for the Winter Wassail; there's no doubt tomorrow will be a long day! Recipe: Instant Chilli, using leftovers, fridge veg and tinned products I used the remains of the Smoky Chick'n & Aubergine Ragu from last night. Cooked up some shallots, carrots and celery, added some miso, cocoa powder, a tin of drained red kidney beans, a tin of chilli beans and half a tin of water, mixed in the leftover Ragu, then brought it all to a simmer for ten minutes. Weather: Clear skies, and the crescent moon looked fab first thing. Sunny much of the day, though a little chillier than yesterday. Breakfast: Bran Sticks, yogurt, oat milk, pear Lunch: Defrosted Squash, Mixed Bean and Coconut Curry blitzed and turned into soup, and sandwiches of Lidl Crusty Wheat & Rye Loaf with diced red onion, celery, cream cheese, miso and mayo. Supper: 'Instant' Chilli (see above), and we had with the remaining bulgur wheat, and some raw celery and cucumber.  Despite a boiling fresh cuppa being brought to me in bed, I had it lukewarm as I couldn't wake up. However, I was still off to Lidl for an 8am shop, then home and work work stuff at my desk.
An afternoon full of note making and supper thoughts; currently think of an aubergine and chick’n pilaf of sorts with bulgur. Recipe: Smoky Chick’n & Aubergine Ragu with Bulgur Wheat I decided a pilaf was too much faff, so went for a sort of ragu using chick’n pieces I’d bought as they were on offer at Lidl, a languishing aubergine, tinned toms and smoked paprika… bulgur wheat would be the starch. If the chick'n pieces are not to your liking you could use a drained tin of your favourite beans. I measured out a cup of dried bulgur wheat into a microwaveable dish. I then put a cup and a half of water into our kettle to boil, rinsing the bulgur in fresh water whilst I waited. I then added a teaspoon of bouillon powder to the bulgur, stirred it through, then added the boiled water, stirring to ensure all was coated. Putting a lid on, I then left the bulgur to soak up the liquid, and got on with the ragu. In a shallow metal casserole I sweated a sliced red onion and chunks of aubergine in a tablespoon of olive oil over a medium heat until both were taking on some colour then removed them. I then added the chick’n and cooked through stirring regularly (skip this step if using drained tinned beans) until they took on some colour - some stuck to the bottom and I sort of scraped them away from the surface with a wooden spatula. I then took these out and set them aside, adding the onion and aubergine back to the pan (Note: I guess I should have done this the other way around; chick’n pieces first and then the onion/aubergine mix). I added a tablespoon of water, a rounded tablespoon of miso, a teaspoon of mixed herbs, a slightly rounded dessert spoon of smoked paprika, and a teaspoon of bouillon powder and gave it all a good mix, cooking through on a low heat for a few minutes. I then added a tin of tomatoes, chopping the larger ones up, and brought to a fierce bubble and then turned all down to a gentle bubble, added a lid and let all cook gently for about 20 mins. I then added the lightly browned chick’n pieces (or your drained tin of beans) to the mix, stirred them through then cooked on a low heat with the lid on for five minutes. Whilst the ragi was cooking for its final five minutes I popped the bulgur wheat in the microwave on high for four minutes - this makes it become plumber and a little lighter. Serve the ragu spooned over the bulgur. Thick cucumber slices are nice, adding a nice crunch. Weather: Milder, touching 10°. A bit gusty, though Storm Eowyn has passed over us relatively quietly. Breakfast: Bran Sticks, Yogurt, Pear Lunch: Defrosted Squash, Mixed Bean and Coconut Curry blitzed and turned into soup with slices of Lidl Crusty Wheat & Rye Loaf and Flora Pro-Active Buttery. Supper: Smoky Chick’n & Aubergine Tomato Ragu, bulgur wheat and sliced cucumber.  19 January 2025 (Sunday)
Not a great night sleep had me awake at 3am and dozing off again just over two and a half hours later - I’d heard one bong after five bongs though not six bongs. A cup of tea in bed was, as ever, rather nice and a lazy start to the day got me out of bed just after eight thirty. More laziness took me to the plot around ten thirty… and walking the site filming I heard some type of dull sonic boom around eleven, and felt air pass across my face, whether physical or metaphysical I will never know. A lazy day continued in the afternoon with much reading of Louise Penny’s A Trick of the Light… and making supper which is picktured here, or at least the leftovers for another day are! The evening will be one of TV… Recipe: Baked Lidl Spinach Gnocchi & Broad Beans in a cream-style blue cheese sauce I’m keen to defrost the freezer - the freezer of which I had to mend the handle the other day… I’d bought some fresh Lidl Vemondo Spinach Gnocchi around the new year, being immediately worried about using them - most I’ve cooked ended up as bullets, and the ones I’ve made COULD have been used as bullets. In the freezer are year-old portions of stilton, shop-bought broad beans, a tablespoon of leftover cream, and in the fridge are some leeks that need using, and a good glug of dry white white wine (about an inch at the bottom of a bottle). Time to use these up. I topped, tailed, split down half the length of each then cleaned the leeks under the running cold tap, leaving some water clinging; chopped them and then softened them in a pan on the gas in a few teaspoons of olive oil - about five minutes. My pan was lidded so they steamed a tad too. I then added a tablespoon of miso, stirring through, then about a dessert spoon of plain flour, swiftly adding about a cup of oat milk and stirring well to ensure no lumps. I then added the wine and stirred through again until all was smooth. I added and stirred through the gnocchi (400g), broken up stilton (I guess about 80g), and the broad beans (maybe 200g, they were still frozen). Stirred through till all was coated I then turned down the gas to the lowest heat, with a lid, and let it cook gently for five minutes. I then put all in a glass baking dish and popped in our preheated convection oven at 180° until golden, about fifteen minutes. It was rather rich so we had half of the mixture between us, leaving leftovers for another day. We served it with a grated salad of thinly sliced red onion, grated carrot and thinly red cabbage dressed with a dash or two of cider vinegar - the subtle sharpness really worked well with the rich dish. Richard’s comment - a keeper!!! Weather: Grey, a little chillier, and that blanket of cloud remains! Breakfast: Bran Sticks, Yogurt, Banana Lunch: Squash & Red Lentil Soup, Quorn ham sandwiches with Lidl artisan baguette and cucumber Supper: Baked Lidl Spinach Gnocchi and broad beans in a cream-style blue cheese sauce, and grated salad.  New Year's Day It’s early on 1 January 2025, a Wednesday, around 7.05am, UK time.
Outside is still dark, and only five windows of the hundreds I can see from the top of the house have some visible life behind them - the lights are on though the curtains are almost fully drawn. All others in their households are likely lying in it being the morning after the night before, or away elsewhere having celebrated with friends or family. A Wednesday start to the year means it will be at least next Monday before things really start to get back to normal and the usual working week-on-week routines resume. I’ve known for a long time that some cultures believe lentils and black eyed beans eaten today are bearers of good fortune for the year ahead, though this is the first year I’m knowingly cooking a dish with this in mind. Being vegetarians, lentils and beans in their various guises are a regular part of a meal, and I’m sure have often been cooked on the first day of the year without any thought to relevance. Today, however, for the year ahead, it feels apt to actively do something, however small, that is believed by many to bring good fortune; so many of us need and want good fortune this year as wars of words and weapons rage across the globe, so split red lentils it will be. A few weeks back on our Facebook group Planet Vegetaria Isabelle of The Natural Choice posted a recipe of Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup; I made a note to make it. Over the past few days I’ve had a hankering to make it today, so make it I did. Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup is made with red lentils, which in some cultures are thought to bring good fortune for the year ahead if eaten today - reminiscent as they are of small gold coins. For me, this bitingly lemony soft soup of lentils started the year well, and might even bring some good health and wellness too… fingers crossed! Recipe & Method: ‘United Tastes’ on Facebook Changes made: I used brown rice rather than white, and added an extra 250ml of water. Will I do it again? Definitely Weather: Cold and very windy and gusty to begin with, then mellowing but rain coming in early afternoon and staying. Breakfast: Christmas Loaf, toasted with Flora Pro-Activ Buttery Lunch: Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup & leftover Lidl Sourdough Supper: White Bean & Celery Lasagne & Grated Salad |
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