Vegan Recipes: England
[This page is in the earliest
stages of development:
12 May
2007
]
Important note: whilst I have
cooked each of these dishes at least several times, and some of them times
beyond reckoning, I rarely cook in terms of precise quantities, and it is therefore
more than likely that the actual quantities that I have suggested may not be
ideal. I shall rectify this problem in due course, and then remove this
disclaimer. In the meantime, I suggest that you apply plenty of common sense.
canellini bean and parsnip pie
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Shortcrust pastry: 400g
Canellini beans: 2x 400g cans
Parsnips: 500g
Roux sauce
Capsicum (bell) pepper (any colour): 2x
Onion: 1x
Soya milk (unsweetened): 250ml
Flour (plain): 50g
Vegetable stock powder: teaspoon
Garlic powder: teaspoon
Thyme: teaspoon
Sage: teaspoon
Black pepper
1. Heat the convection oven to 175˚C.
2. If your pastry is frozen, allow time for it to thaw sufficiently so that it is ready to roll out. If your pastry is from a packet, mix it according to its instructions. Personally, I like to add some vegetable stock powder, some herbs and some powdered garlic. If you make your own pastry, then allow sufficient time to do so.
3. Peel the parsnips, chop them into 1cm cubes, plunge them into boiling water for 15 minutes or microwave with a little water for 10 minutes, drain and set aside.
4. Deseed and chop into strips the capsicum peppers. Fry them in a little oil until browned and soft, but not turned to mush. Peel and dice finely the onion. Fry the onion in a little oil until golden brown and soft. Transfer the peppers and onion into either a saucepan or into a microwave-proof basin.
5. Sprinkle the flour onto the vegetables, stirring vigorously so that the flour absorbs the oil coating the vegetables. Stir in the soya milk, vegetable stock powder, garlic, herbs and black pepper. Over a moderate heat simmer the sauce, stirring frequently as the sauce thickens. If the sauce thickens too much, add a little more soya milk. If the sauce will not thicken at all, sprinkle in small quantities of flour, stirring vigorously all the time. The same principles apply if using the microwave oven.
6. Select an oven-proof dish that will hold between 1.5 and 2 litres. Roll out the pastry so as to form a pastry lid that will sit inside the dish.
7. Drain the cannelini beans, and put them into the oven-proof dish. Stir in the par-boiled parsnips. Pour over the roux sauce. Place the pastry lid into the dish, over the beans and vegetables, neatening the edge by pinching it into little crests. Using a knife, carve your initial in the centre of the pastry lid (so as to let out any steam).
8. Place the dish in the pre-heated convection oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
lentil bake
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes + 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Red lentils: 300g
Tomatoes (canned, chopped): 2x
Capsicum (bell) pepper (red): 2x
Onion: 1x
Vegetable stock powder: teaspoon
Garlic powder: teaspoon
Basil: teaspoon
Oregano: teaspoon
Black pepper
1. Heat the convection oven to 175˚C
2. Into a large microwave-proof dish put the lentils and 500 ml of boiling water. Microwave on medium power for 10 minutes. Stir in the vegetable stock powder, garlic, herbs and pepper. Pour in the canned tomatoes. Microwave on full power for 5 minutes.
3. Deseed and chop into strips the capsicum peppers. Fry them in a little oil until browned and soft, but not turned to mush. Peel and dice finely the onion. Fry the onion in a little oil until golden brown and soft.
4. Into the lentils, stir in the vegetables, and transfer into an oven-proof dish.
5.
Place the dish in the pre-heated convection oven, and
bake for 30 minutes.
lovage soup
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
lovage, handful of fresh, young, tender, stalks and leaves (say, 12 stalks with leaves on)
brocolli, 100g, optional
peas (either frozen or cooked from fresh), 100g, optional
potato flour (or instant mashed potato), 100g
soya milk, 750 ml
onion, x 2
garlic, 4 cloves
vegetable oil, for frying
vegetable stock cube
serves: 4
- Peel, chop and fry, in a heavy-bottomed pan, the onion and garlic until golden brown; reduce the heat.
- Using a food processor finely chop the lovage leaves and stalks (and optional brocolli)
- Add the chopped lovage to the fried onion, and mix together thoroughly.
- Rinse out the food processor jug with cold water (250 ml) and add the resulting (leafy) liquid to the pan.
- Add the stock cube (and optional peas).
- Increase the heat, and, stirring, add some soya milk, but leaving the mixture quite thick.
- Stirring the mixture all the while, add a sprinkling of potato flour, and then some more soya milk - helps to prevent lumps.
- Continue in this fashion until only 250 ml of soya milk remains.
- Add the remaining soya milk and bring the soup close to boiling, then reduce the temperature and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Serve, if possible, with freshly baked bread
NB: Lovage is a powerful digestive, and being very aromatic, it may be something of an acquired taste. I understand lovage to be the herb with which tomatoes ("Wot! No basil?") and cooked-dead-cow were flavoured in ancient Rome. The use of the optional brocolli dilutes the flavour somewhat, which may be more acceptable for people unfamiliar with the taste of lovage. On the other hand, the use of peas complements the flavour of lovage excellently, creating an extremely moorish soup.
pancakes
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
vegetable oil, for frying
soya milk (sweetened or unsweetened, dependoing on flavourings to be used, see below), 500 ml - check this
rice flour, 200g - check this
gram flour, 50g - check this
Flavourings (choose one of the following)
a) cinanmon, ground almonds, ground mixed spice (use sweetened soya milk)
b) cinanmon, ground mixed spice, cocoa (use sweetened soya milk)
c) curry spices, black pepper (use unsweetened soya milk)
- pour the soya milk into a food processor jug
- add the flavourings to the soya milk and whizz the mixture on low speed until the flavourings are thoroughly dispersed
- add the flours to the mixture and whizz on high speed for three minutes, resulting in a batter
- put a heavy-bottomed frying pan on a high heat
- once the frying pan is very hot, pour in a small quantity of vegetable oil, sufficient just to cover the floor of the frying pan once the oil is hot and starting to smoke
- as though writing the letter 'O', pour some batter into the frying pan, leaving a small hole in the middle
- immediately tip the frying pan gently so that batter fills the hole in the 'O', and also extends out towards the edges of the frying pan
- reduce the heat to about 60%, otherwise the base of the pancake will burn before the middle is cooked
- usinmg a wooden or metal (heat from the pan will melt plastic) lifting implement, raise one edge of the pancake sufficient to see whether or not the base of the pancake is burning
- either just as the base of the pancake starts to scorch m ore darkly, or else when the top of the pancake is completely dry, use the lifting implement to flip the pancake over in order to cook the other side
- once the second side of the pancake is cooked, use the lifting implement to lift the pancake from the frying pan onto a plate
- the pancake can be kept warm in a microwave over on its lowest setting ("hold warm")
- do not remove the frying pan from the heat
- immediately repeat the process from the point of pouring a small qunatity of vegetable oil into the frying pan
- once all the pancakes have been cooked, serve immediately, with margarine, spreads, jam, fruit, sugar, soya cream or soya ice cream
Do not be surprised if the first pancake is inferior to subsequent pancakes. It is valuable to.reflect on how the pancakes could be improved for next time - more so than any other dish I cook, cooking pancakes benefits from thought and practice. Was the batter too thin or too thick? Was the frying pan too hot or too cold for the thickness of the batter? Could the quantity of flavouring be improved?.What other flours could be used, and what would be their effect: wheat flour tends to make the pancakes very soft, and stick to the frying pan; buckwheat flour tends to make the pancake a more stodgy consistency; potato flour makes the pancake stick to the frying pan and should be avoided; more rice flour improves the mouthfeel of the pancake, but the pancake risks falling apart; too much gram flour both changes the flavour (although good for savoury dishes) and makes for a very heavy pancake. What about other substances? Avoid sugar in the batter:because it burns as caramel in the frying pan. Replacing some of the soya milk with water or apple juice risks the pancake falling apart, although the apple juice can also improve the flavour. The entire western world appears to believe that pancakes cannot be vegan.
roast dinner
Roasted potatoes
Roasted parsnips
Roasted carrots
Nut roast
Boiled sprouts
Gravy
(to be continued)
toad-in-the-hole
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Vegan sausages, 1 pack
Vegetable oil
Soya milk, 500 ml - check this
Wheat flour, 200g - check this
Baking powder, 2 teaspoons
Vegetable stock cube
Mustard, teaspoon
Garlic
Black pepper
- Cover the floor of an ovenproof ceramic dish with vegetable oil to a depth of 1 mm.
- Cut the sausages into 4cm lengths and place the lengths evenly over the floor of the dish.
- Place the dish in a convection oven, and heat to 200˚C, ensuring that the oil is very hot.
- Mix the ingredients thoroughly, ensuring that the stock cube is fully disolved.
- Having first temporarily removed from the oven the ovenproof ceramic dish, pour the batter evenly over the floor of the dish.
- Return the ovenproof ceramic dish to the convection oven, and bake for 20 minutes, or until biscuit brown
- Serve as hot as possible. (Remember to use oven gloves to handle the ceramic dish when hot
