Rice Noodles with Ginger and Sweet Chilli Vegetables

From Commonsense Vegetarian, Murdoch Books, 2011.

Still working at mastering Asian flavours, I chose this to make.

An onion was cut into thin slices and cooked with a little finely sliced ginger in a mixture of cooking oil and sesame oil. When they had softened, in went a sliced red capsicum, some halved baby sweet corn, sliced shiitake mushrooms, a handful of snow peas and sliced Chinese broccoli. This was stir-fried until it had softened and become shiny.

I then added thick rice noodles carefully separated in some warm water. My separation wasn’t too well done and much of it was broken up. Nevertheless it was carefully stirred into the vegetables. I also added a handful of Thai basil leaves.

A sauce was then added. This was made with a mixture of sweet chilli sauce, light and dark soy sauce and a tablespoon of lime juice. It was all mixed together and the dish was ready.

I didn’t really enjoy this. It was a good enough vegetable mix and the sauce reasonably tasty but I didn’t feel that it was quite right. The instructions called for a moderately hot pan to cook with. I have been told that perhaps I should have used the top heat to cook it all much quicker to gain a better result.

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: ✔✔✔

Watermelon and Bread Salad

From Hungry, Guy Mirabella, Plum, 2011.

With summer in full swing and watermelons in all the shops it seemed time to try another watermelon salad.

Two thick slices of bread had their crusts removed and were torn into bite-sized pieces. They were sprinkled with olive oil and a lot of freshly ground black pepper before being placed in a hot oven for a few minutes until they had turned golden and become crisp. They tasted wonderfully crunchy and peppery at this stage.

Watermelon was now cut into pieces. A layer of it was placed on a platter. It was sprinkled with lime juice and covered with a layer of bread. Another layer of watermelon went on, then more lime juice and then more bread. Onto this lot went some chopped walnuts freshly roasted, some baby salad leaves, a few olives (Kalamata in this case rather than Ligurian as suggested) and a few chopped mint leaves. Pomegranate seeds, as listed in the recipe, were left out.

I like a good watermelon salad but I found this one—even without the pomegranate seeds—was a bit too overloaded with ingredients and, while a pleasant one, was not the best I have eaten. For me, the best part was the peppery bread bits. The watermelon seemed to become a little lost and its sweet flavour didn’t come through as well as it should.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Potato Salad with vinaigrette

From Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book, Jane Grigson, Penguin Books, 1988.

I wanted a salad but all I had in the house were potatoes and a few asparagus stalks. So I turned to Jane Grigson.

I put 2 large potatoes into a saucepan with some salted water and cooked them until they were tender but not too soft. They were then peeled while hot and cut into dice. These were placed in 75ml white wine.

I would not cook potatoes for a salad in this way again. When you cook them whole it is difficult to maintain an even cooking throughout and the centre can turn out slightly underdone while the skin side too soft. In future I would use the way I generally do it, and that is to dice the potatoes first them cook them for a few minutes while watching them to see they are just done right. This way they are more evenly cooked and it is easier to manage the final result.

The asparagus was cut into bite-sized pieces and cooked in the potato water.

When the potatoes had cooled somewhat the remaining wine was drained off and a commercial French vinaigrette dressing was added to the potatoes. The asparagus went in together with a little chopped Spanish onion and chopped parsley. It went into the refrigerator until cold.

I must say this potato salad was disappointing. It should have worked, but it didn’t and I’m not sure why. The asparagus was not from Grigson’s recipe but I felt I could use it up. I don’t think this detracted from the overall result. Oddly, the wine flavour did not really come through; I think the vinaigrette disguised it somewhat.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Tagine of Lima Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Black Olives

From Tagines & Couscous, Ghillie Başan, Ryland Peters and Small, 2010.

I always enjoy a good tagine and was in the mood to try another. This one was for butter beans, which I didn’t have, but there were lima beans in the pantry. So I soaked about 150g overnight. The next day they were drained, washed under running cold water and placed in a saucepan to cook for about an hour.

The main tagine then began. Four garlic cloves were peeled and crushed. Two red onions were cut in half and then into slices. A red chilli was sliced finely. These all went into the tagine with some olive oil and a knob of butter. They were cooked gently until softened.

Next into the pan went a teaspoon of coriander seeds given a little pound in the mortar and pestle, a small teaspoon of fresh ginger grated (the recipe called for heaps more than this: 25g, far too much in my reckoning), and a pinch of saffron. The lid went on the tagine and they were cooked for about 5 minutes.

Tomatoes were next. A punnet of cherry tomatoes went straight into the pan with a teaspoon of sugar and a little dried thyme. I was wary of the thyme and only added a little though 1–2 teaspoons was called for. This mixture was cooked until the tomatoes began to crinkle up.

Now the lima beans were added with some olives and the juice of a lemon. Seasonings were sprinkled in and it was all stirred and the lid went on for a few minutes to let it all heat through. Parsley was added when it was served.

I was a little disappointed with this tagine. Usually they are rich in flavours but there was something not quite right with the spice mix. I don’t think the ginger and the thyme went well together. Ginger, thyme and coriander is a blend I think I’ll avoid in future.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Batter Bread

From Quiet Food, The Buddhist Institute of South Africa, Double Storey Books, 2006.

I wanted some bread to have with the black-eyed bean soup I was making so decided on this one, the recipe for which says ‘you couldn’t find a simpler bread’. It did turn out to be an easy bread to make.

I used 205g of a strong bread flour and 250g of a normal plain flour. To this I added about a handful of wheat bran. The recipe calls for using lots of 250g of flours in any combination.

It was now only a matter of placing in a bowl the flour, a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of dried yeast and a couple of teaspoons of sugar. To this was added about 400ml of tepid water and it was stirred until it had become a batter-like consistency.

 

I had chopped an onion before I began the bread mixture and fried it. This I added to the batter with a pinch of dried thyme.

The batter was now placed in a greased pan and left to rise. When the batter in the half-filled pan had risen to the top of the pan it went into a 180ºC oven for about 40 minutes.

This was quite an acceptable bread though its texture was more cake-like than that of bread. The addition of the onion gave it a pleasing variation to plain bread.

I have recently been enjoying reading about the history of food in William Sitwell’s A History of Food in 100 Recipes. The earliest recorded description of making bread seems to be the paintings on the walls of the tomb of Senet that show in detail step by step the process from pounding the grain to baking the bread. Senet obviously wanted to ensure that she had plenty of good food in the afterlife because there are also scenes of meat preparation and beer making. The recipe of batter bread that I just made was certainly an improvement on method for Senet's bread.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Black-Eyed Bean Soup

From The Penniless Vegetarian, David Scott, Rider, 1992.

There couldn’t be an easier soup than this to make.

Three garlic cloves were chopped and fried until beginning to turn golden. Then three cups of stock was added with 200g of black-eyed beans that had been soaked over night. The mixture was brought to the boil and simmered until the beans were cooked—a little over half an hour.

Now it was checked for seasoning and a teaspoon of dried mint was added with about a handful of chopped parsley. It was ready to eat.

It was surprisingly tasty. I had thought that with basically only one ingredient this would be a rather dull soup but it was decidedly good to eat.

Again, I have been looking through my old books to give them another try and this is one I don’t ever remember using though it certainly looks as though it has had a bit of exposure. Perhaps I should have paid it more attention.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔