Spinach Soufflé

It was the Queen's Birthday holiday here in New South Wales. Oddly, it's held on different dates in the states of Australia. I felt in the mood for making something light, not too complicated and able to be made from whatever was on the refrigerator. The spinach soufflé looked like it would do the trick.

I had two silver beet/Swiss chard leaves so I stripped them of their harder stems and cooked them for a few minutes with some baby spinach leaves that were also in the fridge. They were then squeezed of all moisture and chopped finely.

I made a roux of 30g butter and 25g flour and added 200ml milk and whisked it until it had thickened. It was taken off the heat and the spinach was stirred in, followed by 100g grated cheddar cheese. When it had cooled a little further, four egg yolks were stirred in.

The four egg whites were now beaten until stiff. The recipe called for five egg whites but I decided it could do without the extra rise. One-third of the mixture was now folded into the egg whites, followed by the remainder of the mixture.

It all went into a buttered soufflé dish and into a 200ºC oven for 25 minutes. It looked good at this stage but I gave it a little shake and it felt as though it needed just a little more time. I turned off the oven and gave it another 10 minutes. I do enjoy my soufflés to be a little drier.

With a small salad to have on the side this turned out to be just what was needed for a relaxing night.

Taste: ✔✔✔
East of cooking: ✔✔✔

Stuffed Potatoes

From Gourmet Cooking without Meat, Paul Southey, Marshall Cavendish, 1980.

Sometimes a few simple ingredients can make a tasty dish.

I took two large potatoes, wrapped them in foil and placed them in a 200ºC oven for about an hour, until they were cooked through. They were then taken out and let cool.

The potatoes were now cut in half lengthwise and the insides scooped out leaving about 1cm inside the skin. The scooped out potato was mashed in a bowl with a couple of chopped gherkins, a few chopped green olives and sufficient commercial mayonnaise to make a comfortable mixture that held together easily. This was tasted and did not really need any seasoning. The mixture was scooped back into the potato shells and put back into the oven to warm a little. When they came out some sliced black olives were placed on top as a garnish.

A satisfying dish.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Mushroom Soup

From Gourmet Cooking without Meat, Paul Southey, Marshall Cavendish, 1980.

I wanted a mushroom soup to go with a mains course but didn’t want a soup that was milk or cream based. After a little searching I found this recipe that looked all right.

I cut up an onion and gently fried it in butter until it was soft. Then I added about 300g chopped mushrooms. These were stirred a little and let cook until the juices ran and they had darkened somewhat. A pint of water was added with a vegetable stock cube and the heat was turned up.

Meanwhile I took about 30g butter and mashed it with a fork into a tablespoon plain flour. I added a teaspoon Dijon mustard to this and continued mashing until it had become paste-like. When the water in the saucepan reached boiling point it was turned down to a simmer and the butter/mustard paste was added and stirred until it dissolved. About 50ml red wine went in and the mixture was let cook for another 20 minutes.

 

At this stage the soup had finished cooking so a teaspoon Vegemite was stirred in and the seasoning was checked. A little parsley was chopped and added.

It was good to have a mushroom soup that was not pureed and had no dairy in it. It was full of flavour and nicely textured with the finely chopped mushrooms.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Omelette in Tomato Sauce

From Gourmet Cooking without Meat, Paul Southey, Michael Cavendish Editions, 1980.

The tomato sauce had to be made first for this recipe. I was a little uncertain about the concept of an omelette with tomato sauce but was prepared to give it a go.

An onion was chopped and cooked in melted butter until softened and transparent. Towards the end of this process a chopped garlic clove was added. A tablespoon of flour was now sprinkled in and stirred in with salt and pepper. Two large tomatoes were chopped and added to this mix and also stirred in and cooked for a few more minutes. About a cup of red wine was the last ingredient to add to the mixture. It was stirred in and stirring was kept going until the tomato sauce had thickened. It was now left to simmer while I got going on the omelette.

A simple omelette was made and when it was cooked it was cut into strips. These were laid on a serving plate. The tomato sauce was strained and poured over the omelette. Chopped basil was sprinkled over.

This actually turned out to be much more enjoyable than I had imagined it would be. While there are other ways to serve omelettes that I prefer, it was a good change—for a once-off try.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Melon Salad

From Gourmet Cooking without Meat, Paul Southey, Marshall Cavendish Editions, 1980.

I don’t often delve into this old cookery book. It was one of the first really good vegetarian recipe books which I purchased. I used it often at the time but fashions change and so it seemed to get overlooked more and more. However I do think it’s worthwhile going back to look again at the past—forget fashion. Everything reappears at some time refashioned.

The melon salad sounded a bit odd to me at first but proved to be a pleasant enough fresh tasting salad.

It was simply made by cutting up honeydew melon into dice. A carrot was grated. Tomatoes were chopped, Some Edam cheese was cut into blocks. And a small amount of preserved ginger was cut up finely. These were all put into the bowl and tossed with the dressing which was made of lemon juice, olive oil, chopped parsley and mint, seasonings and a pinch of cayenne.

A pleasing return to past food fashion.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

As some of these books may be out of print if anyone would like a particular recipe, email me (alfcooksvege@ozemail.com.au) and I’ll send a copy. Of course, the whole book would be better; it’s loaded with other goodies.

Vegetarian Scotch Broth

From Gourmet Cooking without Meat, Paul Southey, Marshall Cavendish, 1980.

This book used to be a constant for me but has gradually dropped out of my cooking repertoire. I thought I might like to revisit it. In its time it was a very useful book because there were not a many vegetarian cookery books available. It is quite different now and cooking styles and cuisines have changed remarkably. However, the old recipes are still valid and it’s possible to vary them with some of the more recent variations.

I’ll always go for a soup when I’m flipping through pages so thought I’d have a look again at Scotch broth.

One of the most noticeable differences in this older recipe from more recent ones is the amount of time given to cooking the soup. It was actually cooked for 1½ hours, a time which I cut back considerably.

It was an easy cook. Onions and carrots were fried for a little while. Then all the remaining ingredients (turnips, parsnips, barley, water, thyme, bay leaves and seasonings) were added except for the leek. These were supposed to cook for an hour. I only gave it about 20 minutes, sufficient for the barley to be almost done.  The sliced leek was then added and cooked for another 30 minutes; 20 for me.

The result was a thick rather heavy soup. With ‘broth’ in its name I expected a lighter more watery dish. It was, however, a pleasant enough soup, and substantial enough to be satisfying.

 Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Apricot Soufflé

Apricot Soufflé

from Gourmet Cooking without Meat, Paul Southey, Marshall Cavendish Editions, 1980.

As you can tell from the publishing date this book has been on the shelf at home for some time. Occasionally something has been made from it but it has not had overmuch use. When you look through it today you can see that the recipes have dated somewhat. However, a good recipe does not really age; some of the best meals today are those that have shown themselves to be worth holding on to and repeating.

I am not too sure that this Apricot Soufflé is one of them. It’s okay but I felt that there was really something missing. There’s a certain amount of preparation before you begin cooking: the apricots have to be soaked over night. So, if you want to make this, you must prepare ahead.

The preparation and cooking, apart from the soaking, were quite easy. The dish looked reasonable when it came from the oven and tasted acceptably. What it did lack was a strong flavour of apricot. This was very light on.

When I was making the soufflé I had some of the mixture over so I put it in a small ramekin and cooked it at the same time. I ate it the next day from the  fridge, a sunken cold soufflé. And I enjoyed this small deflated offering much much more than the previous night’s one. The apricot flavour came through quite well. Odd that cold and a night old this gave out considerably more flavour.

As some of these books may be out of print if anyone would like a particular recipe, email me (alfcooksvege@ozemail.com.au) and I’ll send an abbreviated version. Of course, the whole book would be better; it’s loaded with other goodies.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔