Time to Ketchup

On a recent visit to a local market I managed to pick up a huge amount of tomatoes at a bargain price. The next question was what to do with them. Tomato chutney, or tomato soup. Both of these are nice but I fancied something different. Tomato & mozzarella salad maybe? No too many tomatoes and I don’t want to be eating tomato and mozzarella for days. I know, I will have a go at Ketchup.  After a quick search of the internet I settled for one from the super scrimpers website, it seemed easy enough so I gave it a shot, I wasn’t disappointed. Easy, tasty and cheap to make so what is there not to like about homemade ketchup.

Homemade tomato ketchup

Ingedients

·        6 x tomatoes

·        ¼ tbsp of salt

·        150ml white vinegar

·        Pinch each of: all spice, ground cloves, cayenne    pepper, cinnamon

Method

1.      Chop your tomatoes into quarters.

2.      Throw then into a pan with the salt.

3.      Pour in the vinegar.

4.      Put the pan onto the hob over a low heat for about 30 mins or until the tomatoes have gone soft.

5.      Once soft, using a sieve, strain the tomato mixture

6.      Add all the spices to the strained mix and return to the hob

7.      Reduce till you get that nice ketchup consistency

Tip

Instead of putting the all of the sauce into a jar or bottle, you can divide it into an ice cube tray and freeze to get the perfect portion block!

Vegetarian Quesadillas

A nice easy snack that I like to make is the Quesadilla. So for the uninitiated who maybe is thinking “What is a quesadilla”? Here is a brief description for you.

The quesadilla is a wheat tortilla or a corn tortilla filled with a savoury mixture containing cheese, other ingredients, and/or vegetables, cooked often on a griddle, then folded in half to form a half-moon shape. An alternate way you can make them is to use two tortillas. One at the bottom with the ingredients on top, then topped off with a second tortilla, flipping during cooking. This may be little trickier maybe but just as good.

The origin of the quesadilla was in Mexico. The quesadilla as a food has changed and evolved over many years as people experimented with different variations of it. It is ideal for the vegetarian and you can adapt it to use up pretty much anything you have knocking around your fridge.

  

Ingredients

• 4 tortilla wraps
• 1/2 pack of cherry tomatoes
• 1 pepper
• 1/2 onion
• 1 chilli
• 2 sundried tomatoes
• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander
• 2 cloves garlic
• Pinch of salt
• Enough cheese of your choice to scatter a light layer across a tortilla (i like either cheddar or mozzarella)
• 100ml (or however much you fancy) greek or natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp cajun spice seasoning

Method

1. Put the tomatoes (both types), deseeded chilli, garlic, onion coriander (stalks and leaves) and pinch of salt into a food processor and pulse until its a fine salsa type consistency, you don't want a puree but you do want it quite well chopped and mixed. Leave for 20 mins for flavours to develop. (if you don't have a food processor just chop everything up quite finely, crush the garlic and mix together in a bowl).
2. Heat up a dry (with no oil) frying pan to a medium heat.
3. Spread the filling across two tortillas but leave about an inch from the edge
4. Scatter grated cheese across the top and put the other tortilla wrap on top.
5. Cook on at a time in the frying pan about 1-2 mins on either side until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are crispy. I slide it onto a plate then put another plate on top to flip it over before putting it back in the pan to cook on the other side or it can get a bit messy!
6. Mix the yoghurt and the cajun spice. Slice into 4 and serve with the cajun yoghurt on the side.

Burger time

One of the things that I haven’t done yet is The Burger. Burgers are always a satisfying meal. The combinations of ingredients are endless, be it lentils, mushroom, spicy bean, Mozzerella to name just a few.  A burger is tasty, be it a snack or part of a main meal. Here is one to get your taste buds going, no doubt in the coming weeks as we hit the summer i will give you some more tasty burger recipes. Watch this space.

 Smoked Cheddar and Lentil Burgers

Ingredients

•     2 1/2 cups water
•     1 cup dried lentils
•     2 bay leaves
•     1 teaspoon olive oil
•     1 cup finely chopped onion
•     1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
•     1 cup (4 ounces) shredded smoked    cheddar cheese
•     1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
•     2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
•     1 1/4 teaspoons salt
•     3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
•     3/4 teaspoon paprika
•     1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•     1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
•     3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
•     Cooking spray
•     8 teaspoons stone-ground mustard
•     8 (2-ounce) whole wheat sandwich buns, toasted
•     8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato

   

Method

1. Place first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until tender; drain. Discard bay leaves. Place lentils in a large bowl; partially mash with a potato masher. Cool slightly.
2.  Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrot; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly.
3.  Add onion mixture, cheese, and next 8 ingredients (cheese through egg whites) to lentils; stir well to combine. Cover and chill 45 minutes. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
4.  Heat a grill pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add half of patties, and cook 5 minutes on each side or until done. Repeat procedure with remaining patties. Spread 1 teaspoon mustard on top half of each bun. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each bun, and top each serving with 1 tomato slice, salad, and top half of bun.

Salad days

The sun is out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view. To quote a line in a Buddy Holly song. Its still spring but it feels like summer this week as we have this glorious weather here in the Cotswolds.

Although summer weather makes you want to eat salad, there is no reason not to eat salad all year round. I do. Salad has changed out of recognition in my lifetime. I remember as a child eating my mums salads which were usually Lettuce, a tomato (cut up), a piece of cheese, radish, beetroot, a dollop of salad cream and if you were lucky a spring onion or maybe a slice of quiche.  

Salads today are so different and so tasty and you don’t have to wait for the temperature to reach the 90s to eat one either. We eat a much more varied diet now than we did back in the 60s & 70s when I was growing up. This enables us to have salad alongside a main dish, be it pizza, a pie, falafels etc, dishes that were not really on our radar back then.

I thought I would give you a tasty salad you might like to try courtesy of our friends down at Lunchbox London.

Baby kale & roasted aubergine bruschetta with tahini  

A Moroccan-style snack or canapé with warming spices  

                                         Time 30 mins                           serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 tsp (heaped) of Garlic Granules, Mixed Italian Herbs, Cumin and Chilli Flakes
• 1 Handful of Florette Baby Kale
• 1 Bruschetta Loaf (cut into chunky slices)
• 1 Red Onion (finely sliced)
• 1 Large Aubergine (cut into 1cm thick rounds)
•  4 Beef Tomatoes (finely sliced)
• 1 Lemon (juice).

    For the Yogurt Dressing:

• 2 tbsp Crème Fraiche
• 2 tbsp Tahini
• Squeeze of Lemon
• 2 tbsp of Chopped Parsley

Method

1. Slice the aubergine into 1cm circles, cover with the dried herbs and spread out over a baking tray. Drizzle well with vegetable oil and season. Roast for 30 minutes in a 200 C oven until soft and crisp.
2. Meanwhile. mix the yogurt dressing ingredients together and set aside.
3. Add the lemon and a splash of oil to the chopped onion and set aside to soften the flavour.
4. Once the aubergine is nearly there, brush the bruschetta with oil and griddle or roast until toasted and coloured.
5. Mix the kale through the onion and lemon.
6. Serve the aubergine and tomato stacked on the bruschetta with the kale on top and a generous drizzle of the yogurt dressing.    

Carrot & sweet potato soup

Well here I am back from a short break away in the midlands. Now when I say the midlands I actually mean the East midlands, well to be precise just outside of Derby in the Peak district and a great little break it was too. I would recommend the Peak district at the drop of a hat. Whilst away we enjoyed great vegetarian food  at a couple of vegetarian restaurants that I would definitely return too. One was at Cauldwell Mill in Rowsley, the other one was at Scarthin Book shop in Cromford. Fine tasty vegetarian food served up at both restaurants.

Now whilst I was checking the fridge yesterday I found some sweet potatoes along with an abundance of carrots, so the question was what to do with them? Charlotte said “well how about a soup”. Great idea I thought. So out with the recipe book and delve deep only to find Carrot & sweet potato soup. A truly lovely soup with a hint of curry and a lovely fruitiness.   

Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

Servings: 8                          Prep time 10 minutes                     Total Time: 45 Minutes

 

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon curry powder, plus a bit more for serving
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 small), peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 8 cups Vegetable stock
• 1-3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 eating apple
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Do not brown. Add the curry powder and cook a minute more.
2. Add the carrots, sweet potatoes, stock and salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until vegetables are very tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the apples and honey. Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, cool the soup slightly, then puree in a blender in batches. Be sure to leave the hole in the lid open, and cover with a kitchen towel, to allow the steam to escape.) Season to taste with salt, pepper and more honey if necessary. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with more curry powder if desired. (Note: As the soup sits, it will thicken up so you may need to add a bit of water to thin it out.)
3.  Serve piping hot with fresh crusty bread.