Baked Beans À La Différence

Baked Beans À La Différence

by | Apr 15, 2021 | food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

A few years back when our Mexican friends were visiting us in London we took them out for a traditional British Sunday breakfast down the local caff. They loved the instant coffee, white toast, margarine, sausages, mushrooms, bacon. Then Claudia made a face: “sweet beans? Wákala (yuk)”.

Obviously they didn’t go to waste. I grew up with baked beans and love them. But I thought I’d have a go at making baked beans fit for a Mexican. No cheating, mind: baked beans are sweet, just not so sweet they compete for dessert. They are also savoury with that oh so importnt twang of acidity. I think claudia liked them. For myself, I haven’t bought a tin of beans since

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BEANS

  • white beans soaking

     

     

    dry beans
  • white beans soaked overnight

     

    soaked beans

These are typically white beans such as haricot, or cannellini, but any bean is good. I’ve even tried baked chickpeas – they’re great!

The no faff method is to use cooked tinned beans. I find ready cooked beans tend to fall apart and I prefer to cook my own. But if you don’t mind your beans a bit mushy or if you don’t own a pressure cooker who can blame you for wanting to keep things simple?

Pressure cooked beans don’t need pre-soaking, though they will cook that much quicker if soaked. Throw them straight in the pot with 4 times their volume of water and a teaspoon full of salt. Yes, salt. Salt does not make your beans hard, instead producing beans with a lovely creamy texture

Cooking times varies with the type and age of your beans, your pressure cooker and the altitude of your kitchen. As a rule of thumb cook unsoaked white beans for 18-20 minutes at high pressure then turn off the flame and let the pressure reduce naturally to ambient – around 15 minutes

If you don’t have a pressure cooker soak the beans for 8-12 hours and cook in fresh water (with salt) for around an hour

SAUCE

Another thing about tinned baked beans is a sauce thickened with corn starch. Yes, corn starch produces a nice shiny glaze. But essentially if your sauce needs cornstarch it’s just too thin. The best thickener for a tomato sauce is tomato, albeit with a little help from …

  • chopped vegetables for tomato sauce
  • sauté for tomato sauce for baked beans

     

     

  • tomato sauce for baked beans

Carrot and celery are a magic combo in Italian tomato sacues. For good reason. They are packed with umami (deliciousness) and impart a gentle sweetness to the sharpness of the tomato. They also add body – that is, they help thicken your sauce. So you’ll never need to resort to corn starch

TOMATOES

Tinned tomatoes, of course … ? The pic indeed depicts tomatoes of the tinned variety. And if the alternative is the insipid hydroponically grown, sun-starved tomatoes we get in Northern European supermarkets you’re better off with tinned

Got access to decent fresh tommies? Great. Cut them in four, throw them in the blender and blitz them till smooth. No blanching, no peeling, no chopping, no sieving. Tomato skin is full of lycopenes. And discard the seeds and you’re throwing away half the flavour.

SWEET & SOUR

I’ve known chefs use tomato ketchup. Fair enough. But if it’s sweet and sour you’re looking for there are alternatives, Here’s a few

SWEET SOUR
SUGAR jaggari, muscovado, demerara, white VINEGAR malt, wine, cider, sherry, rice
NECTARS honey, agave, maple, coconut CITRUS lemon, lime, bergamot, yuzu
OTHER pomegranite & blackstrap molasses, stevia, xylitol OTHER tamarind, dried mango powder

CONDIMENTS

korean gochujang for baked beans

You can really go to town here. Or keep things simple. The recipe below has Korean gochujang: fermented rice and red chilli paste. Why? Because that high priestess of Korean food Maangchi keeps telling us how totally different real gochujang tastes to the shop bought variety and I was nuts enough to follow her recipe. Be warned: it’s massively hard work. And totally worth it

If gochujang is a step to far to exoticism, or you don’t have a Korean store nearby, or if you don’t want your beans spicy try Spanish paprika or whatever you fancy

Za’atar is a wonderful Palestinian blend of oregano, marjoram and thyme with ground sesame, sumac and salt. Using any of the above herbs singly or in pairs gives equally great results

Other condiments include

MEXICAN chipotle in adobo, guajillo, pasilla, ancho and just about any other fresh or dry chilli, epazote, hoja santa …
INDIAN cumin, garam masala, black cardammon, fenugreek, asafoetida …
FAR EAST gochujang, doengjang, ginger, siracha, takoyaki sauce, black bean sauce, sesame oil, sichuan pepper …
MIDDLE EAST sumac, ras el hanout, preserved lemon, za’atar, nigella seeds

Well, it’s getting on. Let’s make some beans

baked beans
Print Recipe

Baked Beans A La Différence

Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Cuisine: European
Keyword: beans, pulses
Servings: 6

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker (optional)

Ingredients

  • 400g dry white beans eg haricot, cannellini OR 2 400g cans cooked beans
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1 stick celery
  • 1 400g tin tomatoes or 4-5 fresh plum tomatoes
  • 1/2 tsp za-atar or any combination of thyme, oregano and marjoram
  • 2 tbsp vinegar eg apple cider
  • 1-2 tsp sugar, nectar or stevia
  • 2 tsp Korean gochujang or 1tsp Spanish smoky paprika

Instructions

Dry Beans Without Pressure Cooker

  • If you're using tinned beans skip this step
  • soak the beans in plentiful water 6-8 hours or overnight
    white beans soaked overnight
  • discard the soaking water and rinse the beans under a running tap
  • cook the beans generously covered with water with a teaspoon of salt for around 1 hour or until tender but not mushy

No-soak Beans In A Pressure Cooker

  • place the beans with 4 times their volume of waterf and teaspoon of salt in the pressure cooker and cook on a low flame at high pressure for around 20 minutes. But please note that the cooking times will depend on the type and also age of your beans. Turn off the flame and allow the pressure to come down gradually to ambient pressure (about 15 minutes)
    white beans soaking

Make The Sauce

  • peel of scrape the carrot and celery stick, then chop very finely
  • finely chop the onion and garlic
    chopped vegetables for tomato sauce
  • saute all the above in a pan with a little oil. When the mixture is well covered in oil pop a lid on and cook until very soft (this can take 15-20 minutes). Avoid browning by adding a large pinch of salt and an occasional small splash of water
    sauté for tomato sauce for baked beans
  • Cut fresh tomatoes in quarters and liquidze in a blender. Chop whole tinned tomatoes
  • add the tomatoes, za'atar herb mix and gochujang or paprika
    korean gochujang for baked beans
  • Add the "sugar" and vinegar
  • cook the sauce for 10-15 minutes

Purée The Sauce

  • purée in a globlet blender or a hand-held to a very smooth sauce
    tomato sauce for baked beans
  • adjust the seasoning, sweetness and acidity to your taste
  • Add in the beans and cook them in the sauce for 10 minutes, stirring gently so as not to break the beans, and adding a little water if the sauce starts to get too think
    baked beans
  • eat with a couple of poached eggs and sautéed mushrooms on hot buttered toast, crumpets or english muffins
Khaman Dhokla

Khaman Dhokla

by | Apr 11, 2021 | English, food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

Famous Gujarati Savoury Chickpea Cake

I first tried this savory snack in Southall, west London, an area famous for it’s sumptouous Indian textiles (my excuse) and the best curries outside of India, possibly in the world (my real reason)

Dhokla is a savoury snack made from fermented chick pea or yellow-split pea batter steamed into a cake, then garnished with an aromatic oil of mustard seed, curry leaf, dried red chilli and hing

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My dhokla was light and airy with lots of body, a marvellous lactic tang, and a rounded sweetness. And it was wonderfully moist, a sharp-sweet fruity sauce of dates and tamarind rounding it off to perfection.

No wonder, then, that when I subsequently visited India I looked for this – far and wide, as it happens: dhokla is not ubiquitous in northern India. And when I did find it – in Delhi – I was rather disappoined! It was almost too light and spongy, and also dry, with little or no sourness. It did come with a great coconut and green chilli chutney, though, hot enough to make my throat burn, my nose run and my eyes cry. Marvellous

I learnt two hings from this:

  1. Indian cuisine is highly regional and to enjoy the best food it’s best to stick to the local fair
  2. Dhokla can be made the instant way with chickpea flour and citric acid without having to wait for an overnight fermentation. The result, though tasty and, with a little effort, moist enough, to my mind simply illustrates the vital importance of making dhokla the proper way

Method Summary

You’ll find the step-by-step recipe below. Here’s a summary of the main points of the dish. The spices mentioned are the most commonly used, but you’ll find plenty of variation with just a bit of research, and you’re always free to try your own

  1. chickpeas are soaked overnight then ground to a smooth batter with a drizzle of oil and only just enough water to allow the process of liquidizing
  2. spices can be added: try a pinch of fenugreek (dried leaf or seed), another pinch of hing and a quarter teaspoon of turmeric. A scan teaspoon of sugar, honey or maple syrup encourages fermentation and adds a hint of sweetness
  3. the batter is allowed to ferment for 12-36 hours, depending on the ambient temperature
  4. adding a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda at the last minute definitely helps the batter to rise and be fluffy
  5. the batter is steamed for 15-25 minutes in a cake tin of your choice, covered with a tea towel to stop water dripping onto your cake
  6. once done splash on some water with your fingers while still hot – this prevents the dhokla from feeling claggy and sticking to the throat
  7. cut the dhokla into squares with a sharp, wetted knive
  8. a tarka (aromatic oil) is prepared by popping black mustard seeds in hot oil, along with half a teaspoon of whole cumin, a pinch of hing, a handful or curry leaves, fresh or dry, and a couple of dry red chillies or some red chilli powder to your taste
  9. the hot tarka is poured over the still hot dhokla
  10. enjoy dhokla warm or cold as a snack or starter with some coconut, date-tamarind or other sweet-cour chutneys: try pommegranite-molasses with agave nectar and grapefruit. Be inventive. Have fun!
Print Recipe

Khaman dhokla

A steamed savoury fermented-chickpea cake from Gujarat, India
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time20 mins
presoak and fermentation2 d
Total Time2 d 40 mins
Course: any, Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Gujarati, Indian
Keyword: cake, chickpeas, fermented, pro-biotic, pudding, pulses, snack, steamed, vegan
Servings: 6

Equipment

  • a round or square cake tin
  • a steamer with a well fitting lid

Ingredients

Dhokla Batter

  • 1 cup dried chickpeas soaked overnight
  • 1 pinch fenugreek seeds
  • 1 pinch hing (asafoetida)
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 level tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (optional)

Tarka (aromatic oil)

  • 3-4 tbsp neutral oil with a high smoking point
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp whole cumin
  • 1 pinch hing
  • 1 handful curry leaves (10 - 15)
  • 2 whole red chillies, roughly torn
  • ground chilli powder to taste (optional)

Instructions

Batter

  • put all the batter ingredients in a liquidizer with just enough water to make a thick batter, the thicker the better
  • transfer to a covered non-metal bowl and leave in a warm place for 12-36 hours, depending on the time of year, to ferment
  • The fermented mixture should be quite fluffy and pleasantly sharp to taste

Steaming

  • Prepare a steamer or put a trivet or saucer in a pan with water and bring to the boil
  • Oil a square or round cake tin
  • Add the bicarbonate of soda to the batter and stir lightly so you don;t lose the air (CO2)
  • Put the batter in the cake tin, place in the steamer and cover with a well fitting lid
  • Covering the pan with a teatowel will prevent water from dripping on your dhokla, but this is optional
  • steam on a low flame for about 20 minutes
  • Remove from the steamer and immediately splash on some water. This stops the dhokla from sticking in the throat

Make The Tarka

  • Heat the oil in a small pan
  • Add the chillies and allow to just darken. Follow with the mustard seeds until they begin to pop, then add the cumin and curry leaves, letting them sizzle for a few seconds. Finally add the hing and extra chilli powder to taste. Remove from the flame immediately
  • allow to cool and enjoy with a sweet chutney such as tamarind and date sauce, or coconut-green chilli and corander chutney
Pomegranite Molasses At Home

Pomegranite Molasses At Home

by | Oct 24, 2020 | food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

What to do when you can’t get pomegranite molasses but have unfettered access to fresh pomegranites? Do the unthinkable and make your own. Absurdly easy to make, for flavour your molasses will outcompete any store-bought version by 1000 miles – and that’s a conservative measure

 Pomegranite molasses is a middle eastern staple used in a multitude of dishes from salads to sauces, stews and desserts. I love it in my homemade baked beans

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While many recipes call for sugar I’ve never found it necessary to sweeten my molasses. On the contrary, the sweet syrup often needs balancing with lemon or lime juice. I realize I’m talking about Spanish pomegranites, so if your fruit is on the sharp side, go ahead and use your judgement to adjust the sweetness

 

METHOD

 Pomegranite molasses needs just freshly squeezed pomegranite juice and maybe a little lemon juice. Heat to boiling point and cook at medium heat until it reaches a rolling boil and the color has deepened. This can take anywhere from 30-50 minutes, depending on how deep or shallow your pan is and how thick and dark you like it. Finally adjust the taste with a little lemon or lime juice or agave syrup and when cool enough store in a jar in the refrigerator.

The recipe is for a small jar of molasses using 8 pomegranites. Double or triple it to your needs.

Check the video tutorial at the end of the recipe

Fresh pomegranites
Print Recipe

Fresh Pomegranite Molasses

Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time50 mins
Total Time1 hr
Cuisine: Mediterranean, middle east, Worldwide
Keyword: fruit, no added sugar, vegan

Equipment

  • orange squeezer

Ingredients

  • 8 large pomegranites or multiples thereof
  • lemon or lime juice to taste

Instructions

  • juice the pomegranites as you would an orange. The citrus squeezing attachment of a food processor is ideal
  • Keep the seeds back and squeeze out the remaining juice using a piece of muslin or similar thin cloth. You don;t have to do this, but you;ll find there's a lot of juice still left in the seeds
  • place the pomegranite juice in a pan. A wide, shallow pan will speed up the process, but you can use any pan
  • bring the juice to a boil and let it cook at medium heat, stirring occasionally for a good 30-40 minutes. After this time look out for a rolling boil, meaning the juice has turned syrupy. If the result is too thin you can cook it some more, but if you;ve overcaramelized or even slightly burnt the molasses there's no going back
  • adjust the sweetness with a light syrup such as agave syrup, and the sharpness with lemon or lime juice to your taste. I never use a sweetener. On the contrary, I find the local pomegranites, even the pale looking ones really sweet and adust only the acidity
  • when warm store in a small jar with a good seal and keep in the refrigerator to use in your favourite recipe

Gluten Free Oat Hot Cakes

Gluten Free Oat Hot Cakes

by | Oct 5, 2020 | English, food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

I’m not especially gluten intolerant. But I do like to avoid the insulin spike you get from starchy food with a high glycaemic index, essentially flooding your bloodstream with glucose to be inevitably stored as fat for a rainy day

  • oat hotcakes on a dish
  • gluten free oat hotcakes

The rate at which starch and other carbohydrates enter your blood stream as glucose is known as the glycaemic index, scaled from 0 – 100 and conveniently divided into three categories. Obviously the lower the index the healthier the food

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GLYCAEMIC INDEX VALUE
High 70 or above
Medium 56 – 69
Low 55 or less
glycaemic index

The glycaemic index of unprocessed oats averages 58 putting it at the lower end of the medium category. Compare this with instant porridge oats which have a whopping 83 glycaemic rating!

Oats are also rich in soluble fibre helping to regulate blood cholesterol. And besides being delicious they are indisputably versatile

Tasty as it is there’s so much more to oats than porridge. Here’s the first of my non-porridge oat recipes. Great for breakfast, lunch, tea and supper: oat hotcakes


oat hotcakes on a dish
Print Recipe

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Hotcakes

Gluten free oatmeal hotcakes great at any time of the day
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: any
Cuisine: Worldwide
Keyword: gluten-free, grains, oats, pancakes, vegan option

Equipment

  • any heavy based pan or skillet

Ingredients

  • 1 cup oat flour oat flour can be made really easily by milling oats in a coffe or spice grinder for a few seconds
  • 1 small pot yoghurt or keffir dairy or vegan, eg soy or coconut
  • 1 egg (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
  • 1 tsp sugar of stevia (optional)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • milk or water dairy or vegan

Instructions

  • mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl
  • incorporate in the oat flour and other dry ingredients to obtain a creamy consistency
  • rest for five minutes. Oats soak a lot of fluid and the mixture becomes much stiffer. Adjust the consistency to a thick pouring cream by adding more liquid or flour
  • add spoonfuls of the batter to a medium hot skillet greased with a little oil or butter
  • after a 2-3 minutes when the top is partially cooked flip them over and cook for a further minute or so
  • serve them warm or at room temperature with your favourite sweet or savoury sides and toppings

Notes

I love these for Sunday brunch with a couple of poached eggs, griddled oyster mushrooms and my homemade "baked" pinto beans with Korean gochujang
Shiozuke: Salted Cucumber With Kelp

Shiozuke: Salted Cucumber With Kelp

by | Jul 9, 2020 | food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

Using salt to preserve food spans millennia. The earliest known records span back to 6000BC in an area around the Nile valley and Mesopotamia known as the fertile cresecent. Japan, however, has turned this process into the artform tsukemono

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Tsukemono or pickled thing in Japan accompanies literally every meal, can be served over a bowl of rice and even forms part of the tea ceremony

The simplest of tsukemonos is salt pickle (shiozuke) and includes fermented and non-fermented varieties. The lactofermented plums in the previous post are in this category

Vegetables with a high water content such as cucumber are best just lightly and briefly salted just to extract water and concentrate their flavour without fermentation

Basic methods

  1. salt can be added directly to the vegetable
  2. the vegetables are steeped in a 5 – 10% slat-to-water brine with the help of weights. You can buy special fermentation weights or just use suitable crockery to keep the vegetables fully submerged in the pickling brine
    • 5% brine requires 8 hours pickling and will last for 2-3 days
    • 10% brine requires 5 hours of pickling and will keep closer to a week

Condiments

You can pickle vegetables with or witout extra condiments. This recipe uses kombu (sea kelp) and dried chilli with whole coriander seeds. The flavour combination is potentially endless: for cucumbers try dill with sumak, or preserved lemon with black pepper. Experiment to your heart’s content

Print Recipe

Salted Cucumber With Kombu And Chilli

Prep Time5 mins
Course: any
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: pickles, raw-food, salt pickle, tsukemono, vegan

Ingredients

  • 1 cucumber thickly sliced
  • 1/2 tsp non-iodized salt
  • a few thin strips of kombu (dried sea kelp)
  • a few thin strips of dried chilli
  • 1 tsp whole coriander seeds

Instructions

  • put the sliced cucumber in a bowl with the salt and toss with your fingers to disperse the salt evenly. Add the coriander, kombu and chilli.
  • Rest, covered at least an hour and preferably 5 hours in the regrigerator. Set a timer so you don;t end up with overly salty vegetables
  • Before serving squeeze firmly with your hands to extraxt and discard the salty water
  • serve in a clean bowl with the kelp and chilli. Try garnishing with a few black sesame seeds
Lacto Soured Plums

Lacto Soured Plums

by | Jul 9, 2020 | food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

Our second post on the subject of tsukemono, Japanese pickles, introduces you to the subject of lacto-fermentation

Umeboshi

Soured ume plums are an absolute staple in Japan. The small, yellow fruit is part of the genus prunus and though referred to as a plum is more closely related to the apricot. The plums are salted and allowed to ferment before the addition of crumpled red perilla leaves and finally sun-dried

Lacto-Plums

Ume can sometimes be obtained in the West from Korean and Japanese stores when in season, but they are far from ubiquitous. Fortunately you can get fantastic results and comparable health benefits from standard plums. They will taste different. They’re a different fruit. But they are, in my mind, every bit as delicious.

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Lacto-Fermentation

This is an old concept and much has been written about it. What follows is a simple summary for your convenience

What is it?

Fermentation is the microbial transformation of carbohydrates into either alcohol or lactic acid. Both are useful preservatives and have been used for millennia to preserve food

Lacto-fermented foods are pro-biotic, providing health-promoting micro-organisms and their bi-products to benefit not only gut function but also strengthen the immune system and even enhance your mood

Since most fruit and vegetables naturally contain lacto-bacteria, all you have to do is to provide the conditions for these to proliferate in preference to other potentially harmful bugs. Two conditions must be met:

Salt

While salt kills most bugs our friendly lacto-bacilli don’t mind a bit of it, though they do mind a lot. So for example, the addition of anything above 7% salt by weight will start to kill our lacto-friends and cure food, but not ferment it. 2-5% salt, on the other hand, will allow lacto-fermentation to get to work on virtually any fruit or vegetable transforming it into something to grace any meal, great or humble

No oxygen

Lactofermentation will only take place in anaerobic (no air) conditions. If your fruit or veg are directly exposed to oxygen they will soon develop mould and harmful bacteria and the whole batch will spoil

There are 3 commonly-used methods for preventing aerobic exposure

  • Salting draws out water to create a brine in which you can keep your fruit immersed with the help of a weight – sliced sauerkraut is usually made this way
  • Or you can mix a brine in which to immerse your veg – this is the method used for fermented whole cabbages, the leaves of which are used to make the Turkish stuffed-cabbage dish Sarma
  • Large pieces of fruit such as plums do very well fermented inside a vacum-seal bag. These are very easily available and guarantee a scrupulously anaerobic environment. When fermenting plums this is, for me, the method of choice

  • salted plums in a vacu-seal bag
  • lacto fermenting lums

Print Recipe

Lacto-Fermented Plums

Prep Time5 mins
Fermentation time: +/-5 d
Keyword: lacto-fermentation, pickles, pro-biotic, raw-food, sides, tsukemono, vegan

Equipment

  • Fermentation crock or sterilized jar with lid
  • OR
  • vacuum zip-lock bag(s)

Ingredients

  • 1 kg plums stoned and halved
  • 20 g non-iodized salt

Instructions

Sterilize the container and all utensils

  • use a fresh vacu-seal bag
  • or, if you're using a jar or crock or a previously used vacu-seal bag wash these in warm soapy water and allow to air dry, especially in direct sun-light. Jars and crocks can be dried in an oven on the lowest setting. Lids and rubber seals can be plunged in boiling hot water before air-drying

preparing the fruit

  • wash the plums under running water, cut in half and stone
  • in a bowl toss the plums with the salt to cover evenly

vacu-seal bag

  • place in a vacuum seal bag, spaced apart by a couple of inches
  • remove all the air with a pump
    salted plums in a vacu-seal bag
  • leave in a warm place to ferment
  • when the fermentation is underway the bag will fill with CO2: burp the bag by opening, resealing and pumping out all the air once again
    lacto fermenting lums

Jar or crock

  • recipes and ideas for using fresh and dried lacto plums and their skins follw
  • place the salted plums cut-side down in layers
  • weigh them down: I fill sandwich bags with 2-3% brine, tie theem woith a firm knot and place them over the fruit covering all available space so the lid squeezes the bag tightly against the fruit
  • after a couple of days open the jar and press the fruit down so it is well immersed in its developing vinegar and releasing any air pockets at the same time. Replace brine-filled bag, adjusting the water volume as necessary to keep the fruit wholly immersed

Fermentation times

  • At 25-28C this can take around 5 days. Fermentation at higher temperatures is quicker but gives a rather more acrid result. Generally, the slower the fermentation the better the taste
  • As usual the degree of fermentation depends on your taste. I like them sharp but retaining some fruity sweetness. Let your tongue make the decision

storage

  • the plums and their vinegar will continue to ferment. To slow this down:
  • store the fresh lacto-plums in their vinegar in the refrigerator for a month to 6 weeks
  • or sun-dry for 3 days and store without the vinegar in a jar or plastic wrapper. They will stay good potentially indefinitely without refrigertion
  • the vinegar can be stored seperately, preferably refrigerated
  • the skins can be removed and sun or oven dried until crisp, then flaked or powdered to be added as a garnish to raw salads and cooked dishes
  • recipes and ideas for using fresh and dried lacto-plums, as well the vinegar and skins follow
Misozuke: Miso Pickled Vegetables

Misozuke: Miso Pickled Vegetables

by | Jul 5, 2020 | food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

Tsukemono – The Japanese Art Of Pickling

An intrinsic part of the Japanese way of eating, tsukemono pickles accompany most major meals. Salted, fermented, vinagered or exposed to a variety of micro-organisms from miso to fermented rice-bran, these vegetable side dishes are often pro-biotic, aiding digestion, and always full of that deliciousness we know as umami

  • tsukemeono japanese pickled vegetables

Steeped in history and tradition, and with a wide range of styles and techniques the subject of tsukemono could fill several books. But, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and we’ll approach tsukemono hands-on, starting with one of the simplest: miso pickling

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What Is Miso?

That’s a long story too. We’ll cover some major points about miso later, including how to make it at home. For now, suffice it to that say miso is an aged micro-organism rich soy paste. Though complex in taste with varying degrees of sweetness the primary tastes are salty and umami – perfect for pickling vegetable

Which miso?

The variety of misos is great and can be daunting to the uninitiated. We’ll explore some of the major varieties in later posts. For now just remember this is a hands-on approach: use which-ever miso is available in your local shops and just get stuck-in

What about the vegetables?

Any vegetable with a good crunch can be pickled this way. Good examples include carrots, capsicums, radishes, daikon, cucumber … the list is endless. The vegetables can be immersed dirctly into the miso paste in a jar or pot, then cleaned off. A tidier method is to set up two thin layers of miso separated by a thin gauze or muslin: literally a miso bed!

What is the optimum pickling time?

Pickling times vary substantially with the type and size of the vegetable pieces, ambient temperature and of course, personal taste. Softer vegetables like radishes or cucumbers will be ready in an hour. Harder root vegetable may take 2-3 hours.

Vegetables with a high water content are best salted first to extract excess water, then rinsed to remove the all the salt before miso-pickling.

The best way is to check frequently until the taste and texture please your palate, then make a note for the next time.

How long will my miso last?

Live miso is best after 5 years. When using miso for pickling the moisture drawn from the vegetables eventually renders it unfit for the task. You should be able to use a batch for up to a month. Some suggest cooking it to remove excess moisture and any tendency to mould-growth. Though still flavourful, cooking literally kills the miso and I personally don’t recommend it. When your miso’s pickling career comes to a natural end use it in soups, stews, spreads, and marinades. Mix with a little honey or maple syrup, a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil and a splash of citrus or vinager to paint onto tofu, aubergines and other vegetables for roasting or grilling

Miso is a living organism producing a range of macro and micro-nutrients, including B vitamins and notably B12. Even pasteurised shop-bought varieties contains essential enzymes which will denature with boiling and long-cooking. As a general rule opt for adding miso to dishes at the end of cooking

Print Recipe

Miso-Zuke: Miso Pickled Vegetables

Prep Time5 mins
Pickling times vary from 1 to several hours1 min
Total Time6 mins
Course: any
Cuisine: Asian, Japanese
Keyword: miso, pickle, probiotic, side-dishes

Equipment

  • jar or pot with lid
  • or zip-lock bag
  • or flat wide ceramic dish with 3 layers of muslin or other fine cloth

Ingredients

Any Assortment Of Vegetables, such as

  • carrots
  • white turnip
  • capsicums
  • cucumber
  • radishes etc

Miso

  • white or red miso preferrably unpasteurized

Instructions

Miso Pickling Bed

  • This is not necessary if you're immersing the vegetable directly into miso paste in a jar, pot or zip-lock bag
  • Cut 3 pieces of muslin to the size of the pickling tray
  • Using a small palatte knife spread an even layer of miso on two of the pieces of musline
  • Lay the bottom layer in the pickling tray, miso side down
  • Lay the second layer mido side up and cover with the third layer of musline

Prepare The Vegetables

  • Wash, peel (if necessary) and cut the vegetables into strips or thick slices
  • Vegetables with a high water content, such as cucumber, will benefit from salting first:
  • Sprinkle a scant teaspoon of salt and mix with your fingers to cover the vegetable evenly with salt
  • Rest for 15-30 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and pat dry with paper kitchen towel
  • Place the vegetables between the bottom and middle layers of muslin
  • Allow to pickle 1-3 hours or longer according to taste
  • Enjoy with a bowl of rice, some tofu and a pot of hot tea
Roasted Tomato And Garlic Soup With Sautéed Figs

Roasted Tomato And Garlic Soup With Sautéed Figs

by | Jun 7, 2020 | food, Vegan (plant-based), Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

Too late to make it to the supermarket yesterday I woke to just enough milk for coffee and no bread. Oat porridge, then, with rich, thick soya cream for Sunday breakfast: veganly delicious! StillI I thought I’d better try to make the 2pm deadline for the corner shop for emergency supplies. Little bags of green thingummies in the fridge were figs. Eyeing big, ripe beef tomatoes out of the corner of one eye lunch was sorted

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I’m not overly attached to eating things in season. We humans have come a long way in farming since our hunter-gatherer days, and I’m OK with that. Still, I have to admit that things taste best when in season, and figs and beef tomatoes are in season here in Extremadura. As are cherries. Paprika, mercifully, is a condiment for all seasons.

Spanish tomato soup is served with figs and slices of toasted or fried stale bread. I skipped the latter in favour of using up left-over buckwheat risotto in a frittata. Some crisp endives over rocket and a bowl of Jerte cherries rounded off the meal

Roasting Tomatoes

There many ways to skin a tomato: the most straight-forward is under a hot grill. you want the skin quite charred, but the fruit still firm. Roasting by this method cooks the tomato quite a bit, so no need to sweat them: jump straight to peeling them once they’ve cooled down enough to handle and proceed accordingly

Roasting over a flame or charcoal gives the best flavour. I have a wok-shaped pan full of holes especially for the job. I love it, and wholeheartedly recommend it. Flame roasting requires a period of sweating to cook the fuit and let the charred aromas of the skin penetrate the flesh. !5 minutes is minimum. Longer is better.

char-roasted tomatoes

The tomatoes as well as the garlic can also be blackened on a hot skillet. You’ll need to stick around to turn them over frequently, though.

If you don’t have all day you can just skip the roasting: plunge your tommies in hot water for 30 seconds, peel them and proceed accordingly. But you will be missing a whole dimension of flavour

Roasted Tomato & Garlic Soup With Figs And Goats’ Cheese

  • vegetable stock (or stock cube)
  • 2-3 ripe beef or plum tomatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 medium onion
  • a splash of olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 2-3 sprigs thyme
  • 3-4 ripe figs
  • a knob of butter
  • fresh goat’s cheese ((optional))

  1. Start your vegetable stock by adding whatever veg you have to hand with a handful of herbs and spices to a pan. Boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain off the solids and keep back the stock

  2. Meanwhile roast the tomatoes whole or halved if they’re very large, and garlic, skin-on in a very hot oven or grill, on a skillet or over a naked flame (see notes above)

  3. When the garlic and tomato skins are blackened wrap them in a kitchen towel over foil or plastic film and let them sweat for 20-30 minutes

  4. Slice the onion and soften in a little olive oil with the finely chopped rosemary and the thyme. Adding a little salt stops then over-browning.

  5. Skin the tomatoes and garlic. Slice the tomatoes thickly and the garlic very thinly. Add them to the onions, along with the paprika and cook for 5-10 minutes or until softened through

  6. Add the tomatoes and other ingredients to the stock, or vice versa, season with salt and black pepper to taste, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes

  7. Top and tail the figs and cut them in 4 or 6, depending on their size, and sautée in a little butter or olive oil to keep the dish vegan

  8. serve the soup in wide soup bowls topped with sautéed figs. Traditionally some toasted or shallow-fried slices of yesterday’s bread are added. I prefer a couple of medallions or soft goats’ cheese or a dollop of thick soya cream and a few chopped chives with fresh crusty wholemeal bread on the side

any
Mediterranean, spanish
broth, figs, soup, stock, tomatoes
Pasta, Caccio E Pepe

Pasta, Caccio E Pepe

by | May 23, 2020 | food, Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

I’m not a fan of eating large amounts of pasta on a regular basis. When in Italy, mostly in the north, I’m served pasta in quite modest amounts as a separate course before the main. Maybe it’s different down south, but I think this is the healthier way to enjoy a bit of pasta now and then.

If you think pasta with cheese and pepper doesn’t sound like anything to write home about, well, I’m happy to say that on this occasion you’d be wrong

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One of the great features of Italian gastronomy is sophistication of technique within relative, sometimes great, simplicity of ingredients. This dish, from Rome’s Lazio region illustrates this perfectly.Jump to Recipe

I’ve seen recipes adding grated cheese and a bit of pepper to pasta. Really? No! Caccio e pepe is a marriage of cheese and pepper with very lightly salted pasta water turned creamy, velvety emulsion in gastronomic heaven. It’s not hard to make, but there’s a good bit of technique. Here’s what I’ve picked up during my forays through fair Italy

TUTORIAL SUMMARY OF THE TECHNIQUE

The pepper is just lightly crushed with a pestle, then delicately dry toasted in a pan to bring out its perfume

Pecorino is the cheese of choice, though you’ll get great results with Parmesan or any hard aged ewes’ or cow’s cheese. To the fairly salty cheese you’ll be adding a little of the “glutinous”, salty pasta water. This requires that you use

  1. half the recommended amount of salt in the pasta water
  2. half the recommended amount of water in order to obtain that glutinous consistency

First time I made this I used too little water for the pasta and ended up with a delicious, but slightly dry result. Thus, I took to keeping a small saucepan of simmering water nearby, ready to come to the rescue. I rarely need it nowadays, but it helps me feel secure

You’ll need two pans, a deeper pan to pre-boil the pasta, and a wide, open frying pan, large enough to hold all the pasta with room to toss where you’ll finish off the dish

The pepper is dry toasted in the frying pan at medium heat just until its aroma is released. Once the pasta water starts to look gloopy, add a ladleful to the black pepper.

A couple of minutes of lively bubbling and you’re ready to add this to half the cheese in a bowl, whisking vigorously to dissolve it into a thin cream, then add the remaining cheese while the mixture is still hot for a thicker cream

The pasta is only partially cooked in its original pan and finished off in the secondary shallow pan along with a ladleful or two of pasta water and the caccio-pepe emulsion until al dente and immersed in creamy, velvety nectar – the aroma of which words fail to describe

Have your table very close by and your guests ready to tuck in. This dish waits for no-one.

Ready? Here’s the recipe

spaguetti with caccio e pepe
Print Recipe

Pasta, Caccio E Pepe

Pasta with cheese and black pepper from Italy's Lazio region. Two ingredients, one big dish
Prep Time15 mins
cheese grating time5 mins
Total Time20 mins
Course: any
Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean
Keyword: cheese, ova-lacto, pasta

Ingredients

  • 1/2 -3/4 pounds tornarelli, spaghetti or macaroni I always use wholemeal
  • 1 cup freshly grated pecorino or parmigiano or your favourite aged HARD cheese
  • 15 black peppercorns
  • salt

Instructions

grate the cheese

  • divide your grated cheese between two bowls

cook the pasta

  • follow the instructions on the packet using half the recommended amounts of salt and water
  • optionally boil some water in a small pan and have it simmering in case you run out of pasta water!
  • Cook the pasta till al dente but still a bit hard: you'll be stealing about 3-4 minutes from the recommended cooking time
    boiling pasta

prepare the pepper

  • while the pasta is cooking coarly crush the whole peppercorns in a mortar and pestle
  • when the pasta water starts to look gloopy put the crushed peppercorns in a dry large frying pan and toast on medium heat for a few seconds to just release the aromas
  • add a ladleful of pasta water to the pepper and cook on high heat for 2 minutes. This will release the pepper's aromatic oils into the water

emulsify the cheese, pepper and water

  • add the hot peppered water to half the cheese in a bowl, stirring vigiriusly to achieve a thin cream. While still hot add the relmaining cheese. If the resulting cream is too thick add spme more of the pasta water to achieve the consistency of thick double cream

finish the dish

  • transfer the pasta to the frying pan you used for the pepper along with a couple of ladle-fuls of pasta water
  • add the cheese-pepper emulsion in 3-4 stages, tossing the pasta contiuouslty. Add more pasta water to thin out if necessary and cook for 2-3 minutes until the pasta is cooked al dente and the emulsion is creamy and smooth. If if looks over sticky add a tiny bit more water, but careful!
    caccio e pepe sauce for pasta
  • Serve immediately
Sweet Potato, Broad Bean & Feta Tortilla

Sweet Potato, Broad Bean & Feta Tortilla

by | May 17, 2020 | food, Vegetarian (eggs & dairy)

What distinguishes italian frittata from Spanish tortilla? The distinction is not a culinary but a historical one. The “open-faced” omelette most likely originated in Persia. It travelled to Spain where, with the addition of potatoes fresh off the boat from the new world became the tortilla, thence to France, Italy and yonder for omelettes, frittatas and whatever else

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While in Italy frittatas are thrown together out of leftovers, in Spain it’s serious business, people going to such lengths as arguing whether an authentic tortilla does or does not contain onions, with onion-ists and non-onion-ists utterly divided and sticking to their guns with zeal and passion

I use onions. They make a sweeter, juicier tortilla. And I prefer sweet to standard white potatoes (not white sweet potatoes). The reason?

∼ Sweet potatoes aren’t potatoes ∼

Ipomea Batatas is a tuber related to Morning Glory, not to the nightshades, though the two have an extremely old common ancestor. And it has several important properties:

Nutrition

Sweet potatoes have a lower glycaemic index than the white potato making it more suitable for people with type 2 diabetes

That said, the glycaemic index is still high ranging from 44 (medium category) to 94, definitely in the high group. Boiling reduces the index, while baking increases it. Worth bearing in mind

Though containing mainly starch, around 11% of this is resistant starch, broken down slowly to reduce the rate of entry into the blood-stream (the glycaemic index). Cooling after cooking, increases the resistant starch content. You’ll need to cool it down to 4C or even lower. And reheating increases resistance yet again!

Resistant starch feeds your good gut bacteria, making it a pre-biotic

Sweet potatoes also contain high levels of beta-carotene which your body can convert to vitamin A, as well as decent amounts of vitamin C and many essential minerals

It’s worth noting they also contain high levels of oxalyc acid, which may exacerbate the formation of kidney stones if you’re susceptible

egg tortilla with sweet potato and broad beans
Print Recipe

Sweet Potato Tortilla With Broad Beans And Feta Cheese

Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time15 mins
pre-cooking10 mins
Total Time40 mins
Course: any
Cuisine: spanish
Keyword: beans, eggs, pulses

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 medium opnion
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup broad beans fresh or frozen
  • 5 eggs
  • large pinch nutmeg
  • mixed herbs of your choice fresh or dried
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 200 g Feta cheese
  • good oilive oil for frying

Instructions

  • Finely chop and soften the onion in a little oil till translucent, about 5 minutes
  • Add in finely chopped garlic and soften for a couple of minutes
  • Peel and wash the sweet potato. cut it in half lengthways and slice each half into 1/2 centimetre slices
  • cook in lightly slated water until tender but still firm
  • cook the beans in water for 7-10 minutes, depending on their size
  • in a large bowl beat the eggs with the chopped herbs and nutmeg
  • add in all the slightly cooled pre-cooked ingredients, mixing thoroughly, and adjust the seasoning to your taste
  • heat some oil in a fying pan and add half the tortilla mixture, shaking the pan to avoid sticking
  • add the crumbled feta and cover with the remaining egg mixture. Keep shaking that pan
  • once you see a fine layer of cooked egg at the base turn the heat down to low. Thicker tortillas will cook through better covered with a lid. Thinner tortillas won't need this and can be turned after as little as 2-3 minutes, depending on how runny you like your eggs
  • To turn just flip it like a pancake, or play safe (highly recommended): place an upside-down plate over the top, flip the pan over and slide the tortilla back in from the plate. Remember the tortilla is very hot, so use a dinner plate which won't burn your hand
  • I have a (well-seasoned) double tortilla pan, readily available in Spain, but believe me, people have been using the plate method successfully for centuries
    duble tortilla pan
  • enjoy hot, cold or even warm