Honeydew Melon, Strawberry and Mint Compôte

From Vegetarian Supercook, Rose Elliot, Hamlyn, 2006.

Strawberries are tops at the moment and cheap. Time to use them up in this compôte.

In a bowl I scattered some mint leaves and bruised them with the back of a spoon. I added a couple of tablespoons honey and stirred it into the leaves.

I took half a honeydew melon and scooped out the seeds then used a melon baller to take out the flesh. The melon balls went into the bowl with the honey and mint.

Now a punnet of strawberries was washed, sliced and added to the melons. These were gently stirred in, the bowl covered and left for 3 hours, occasionally giving it another gentle stir.

The compote was delicious. The fruit juices had blended into a wonderful liquid so the fruits were able to be served in it. The mint leaves tended to be a bit too overpowering to eat but had imparted their flavour to the dish.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Cool Down

From Miracle Juices, Charmaine Yabsley and Amanda Cross, Hamlyn, 2001.

I don’t often make vegetable juice drinks but this one looked as though it might be a good one.

I juiced one medium beetroot, one large carrot, a medium sweet potato and half a fennel. They were served in a glass with some ice cubes.

I rather liked the sweetness of the vegetables with the overtones of the aniseed of the fennel.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Twice-baked Cheese Soufflés on Mushroom Steaks

From Vegetarian Supercook, Rose Elliot, Hamlyn. 2004.

I had a spare egg white so looked for a recipe that needed one. I found this one.

First I greased two ramekins with butter then set the oven to heat up to180ºC.

Now I set about making the filling. In a bowl I placed 125g soft cream cheese and 2 egg yolks and beat them until well combined. To this I stirred in 75g grated gruyere cheese. I whisked 3 egg whites until they were firm then folded them carefully into the cheese mixture. This was spooned into the ramekins. They were placed in a casserole and boiling water poured in until half way up the ramekins. Into the oven they went to cook for a little over 15 minutes. I took them out and let them cool.

I now took two field mushrooms, removed the stems and sautéed them on both sides until cooked. 

Just before serving time the oven was turned up to 220ºC. The soufflés were turned out of the ramekins and one placed on top of each mushroom. They were placed in a dish for the oven and a little cream dribbled over the top. Some grated parmesan cheese was now sprinkled over and they went into the oven for another 15 minutes.

The soufflés had become a little crispy on top that went well with their creamy texture. The flavour of the gruyere came through well. I found that the mushroom was a little too strong to eat with the soufflé and I found that I soon took the mushroom out from underneath and ate it separately so that the more delicate flavour of the soufflé was not overpowered.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

No-Rice Nori Sushi

From Vegetarian Supercook, Rose Elliot, Hamlyn, 2006.

I was not too sure about making sushi without rice. It seemed to me that they couldn’t be sushi without the rice but I thought at least I could give it a go.

I grated 200g daikon and squeezed it as dry as I could get it. I then mixed in one teaspoon rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar. It was then seasoned with salt and black pepper.

I laid out a sheet of nori seaweed and spread the daikon over it leaving about a centimetre at the far end. On the closest end I laid out strips of roast red capsicum, cucumber and avocado. I then tried to roll it up and failed as the nori collapsed. I laid out another sheet and placed the clumsy first roll onto this and rolled it up. This was better. I wrapped it in cling film and placed it in the refrigerator until I needed it.

At serving time it was cut into four pieces and served with some wasabi paste, some soya sauce and a little pickled ginger.

I prefer rice sushi.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Beetroot Soup

From Vegetarian Supercook, Rose Elliot, Hamlyn, 2004.

Beetroot is such a good vegetable to use. Whenever I have a batch of them I like to cook them all in one hit. I put them in the saucepan, fill it with water then bring it to the boil and simmer them for about 45 minutes. At this stage I turn off the heat and leave them in the water until it cools. That seems to work the trick quite well. I know that baking them will bring out the flavour a little more but it takes a bit more work to do it that way and boiling them does not lose a lot.

I had some cooked beetroot on hand when I came across Rose Elliot’s recipe for iced beetroot soup. I didn’t want iced but the recipe says that it works as well hot.

An onion was fried in olive oil until it was soft. A potato, peeled and cut into pieces, was now added to the saucepan. With the lid on, it was left for another few minutes to cook a little further.

I then added 4 medium sized beetroot, cut into pieces, and a little over a litre of stock and brought it to the boil. The rind of half a lemon was added and the mixture was left to simmer long enough for the potato to be well cooked.

The mixture was now pureed with a stick blender. A little lemon juice was added and the soup was seasoned. It was served with a little sour cream on top.

While Rose Elliot said that this recipe got her a marriage proposal I would suspect that there was a little more behind the proposal than just this soup. It was tasty with the sweetness of the beetroot heightened nicely from the sourness of the lemon juice.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔