Cumin Seed Wafers

From Commonsense Vegetarian, Mudoch Books, 2011.

I needed something to use my pâté on and flicking through the pages of Commonsense Vegetarian I found what looked to be an interesting dry biscuit. I’ve cooked before from this book so felt that this would probably work.

It was a simple dough using Copha instead of butter and included cumin seeds (first heated until fragrant).

I liked the detailed directions for rolling out the dough to gain the biscuit shapes—even though I was not as accurate as the instructions detailed.

A quick bake and I had a batch of crunchy spiced wafers well suited to accompany my pâté.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Asparagus, Fennel and Beetroot with Verjus

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

Maggie Beer often extols the benefits of verjus so it seemed as if I should at some time try it out. I found this recipe in Plenty which I often browse through. It’s a book I often flip over the pages to see what other treats are in it.

This is an easy recipe to prepare though it takes a little longer than usual for a salad.

The beetroot are roasted and then cooled.

The dressing takes a little time as the verjus is simmered until it is reduced. When it is cool oil and seasonings are beaten in.

While the recipe calls for the asparagus to be raw I cooked mine. I left the fennel raw though and sliced it thinly.

When the vegetables were on the serving plate they were dressed and sprinkled with pine nuts.

It was a rather fresh salad with some nice crunch from the fennel. I’m not so sure about the value of verjus as compared with a vinegar. It was a little blander in comparison and I do like the bite of vinegar.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine

From Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cookeer, Robin Robertson, The Harvard Common Presss, 2004.

When you purchase some pâté knives it surely is incumbent upon you to make a pâté. I looked around and the first recipe in this book was for a terrine. It looked as though it would be pretty acceptable as a pâté so I thought I’d have a go at it.

I had never used this book before though it had been on the bookshelves for a while. I think it was the fact that it was a book of recipes for using the slow cooker. While I find the cooker is handy for some meals I’ve never been convinced about its general use for vegetarian meals. This one worked somewhat in changing my opinion. I’ll see whether further cooking from this book confirms this change.

The preparation was easy. Cook onion and garlic. Soak sun-dried tomatoes.

Add all the ingredients to a blender and puree. They were then placed in small containers and steamed in the slow cooker.

For a pâté it turned out to be a little crumbly (it was a terrine) but it was very tasty. For a party nibble it’s worthwhile because the preparation is so easy and then it’s up to waiting for the steaming (four hours) to be completed.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Chard and Saffron Omelettes

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

I keep being drawn back to this book because the recipes are light though satisfying, flavoursome and always with that slightly different touch that makes them something special.

Omelettes always make a pleasing meal. This particular one sounded especially so.

Firstly a filling had to be made. Potatoes were put in a pan of water with some saffron and brought to the boil. After a few minutes the chard was added. This had been chopped. When this mixture was cooked it was drained, lemon juice and a crushed garlic clove added. It was then left to cool.

The omelette mix (eggs, milk, chopped herbs and seasonings) was beaten and the omelettes cooked. These were thin omelettes.

Once cooled a little, each omelette was spread with crème fraîche. The vegetable mix was spooned on and the omelette folded in half. To follow the recipe they should then have been folded in half again. Mine looked as though they would not take the second fold so they stayed as they were.

The filling of potatoes and chard worked well with its tangy lemon juice. The slight aniseed of the tarragon in the omelette came through, enlivening the mix. A truly satisfying meal.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Asparagus and Mushrooms in mushroom broth with tender white beans

From Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen, Deborah Madison, Broadway Books, 2005.

The broth for this was the first item that had to be got going. Dried porcini was soaked in three cups of water. While it was soaking the vegetables were chopped (onion, carrot, garlic and button mushrooms) and sautéd. Tomato paste, marjoram and white wine were then added and flour sprinkled on. This was stirred until it thickened a little. At this stage the porcini and water were added with seasonings. It was then left to simmer.

While this was simmering the mushrooms were prepared. A mix of a variety of mushrooms was chopped to comfortable pieces and fried in olive oil. Though butter was not mentioned in the recipe, I added some as I feel it really adds to the flavour or mushrooms. Once they began to colour I added seasonings, some chopped spring onions and garlic. At this stage I added a can of drained cannellini beans and turned off the heat.

The stock was ready now so it was strained and added to the mushrooms. I chopped the porcini into small pieces and added them as I felt they could still serve a purpose in the mushroom mix.

I was not following the recipe sequence. I found it easier to cook the polenta at this stage, which I then proceeded to do.

It was then time to prepare the asparagus. So I turned on the mushrooms again to let them simmer until the mushrooms were tender. While this was happening I added the asparagus to boiling salted water until it was ready to serve.

To serve, a spoonful of butter was added to the mushrooms (yes, more) and some more chopped spring onions. A serving of polenta was spooned into the plates, the asparagus placed around it, and the mushrooms in their broth served over it.

This turned out to be a comfortable, satisfying meal. It took a reasonable amount of work to prepare but the result made it worth it. I have found that recipes made from this book have proved to be successful, even when I haven’t followed the instructions exactly.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Blinis with Soured Cream and Roasted Peppers

From The Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer, Mitchell Beazley, 2004.

While I’ve cooked pikelets on many occasions I have never ever made blinis. I guess I know why now. While pikelets are a simple, quick mix blinis are a yeast-based mixture so they need a lot more time to yield a result.

The batter is straightforward, a rich one with two eggs and one extra egg white. With the yeast added with sugar and milk it needed to be left for an hour to prove.

The topping was a little time consuming also. The peppers had to be roasted until the skin had gone black. They were then placed in a paper bag and left to cool. It was easy, though messy, to then peel them and cut them into strips.

The batter mixture had a beaten egg white folded into it before it was cooked on the pan. They cooked up easily and well.

They were served with a dollop of sour cream, a strip of the roasted pepper, an olive and a touch of seasoning. It was well worth the time spent on them. Great party food.

Another successful recipe from this book which I turn to quite often because I usually end up with something tasty.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Roasted Vegetable Couscous

From Moroccan, The Australian Women’s Weekly, ACP Books, 2011.

This sounded like an easy and different vegetable dish. Vegetables had to be roasted (zucchini, red onion and carrots). Couscous had to be prepared. The vegetables were then mixed into the couscous, together with some thyme and bottled sliced red capsicum. After seasoning it was ready.

This would seem to be a good way to use leftover vegetables from a roast. Any vegetables could work well and adding bottled vegetables to it adds that extra bit of flavour.

I did find that it was a little on the dry side. I am not sure whether I am doing something wrong when I make couscous but it does tend to end up a dish which is slightly on the dry side.

We had this with tempeh burgers. They went well together though both were a bit dry so I should have made a sauce of some sort to go with them.

This small book from Women’s Weekly does prove itself to be a good buy. It’s not expensive and it does have a goodly range of different and usually fairly easy to prepare recipes. It is not a vegetarian book but there’s a large enough variety of dishes that are suitable for vegetarians.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔