La Cuisine Imaginaire Vegetarian Cookery School, St Albans – Another visit!

For our first meeting of 2012, St Albans Ladies Circle (of which I am a member) were treated to a visit from Vegetarian Chef Roselyne Masselin. Roselyne is the author of the BBC Vegetarian Cookery Book 'Cuisine Imaginaire' and creator of La Cuisine Imaginaire Cookery School based in St Albans. Roselyne runs lots of different courses including Vegetarian Dinner Party, Indian, Italian, Dairy Free and Seasonal Cookery and the popular 'Me, My Knife and My Chopping Board' which teaches chopping techniques whilst cooking delicious food at the same time. 

Having attended a course by Roselyne before, I was looking forward to seeing what Roselyne had in store for us during this demonstration.

The night was kindly hosted by Sarah and so wine and snacks in hand, we settled into her kitchen, eager to learn some tips from our Chef. Roselyne started by sharing some tips on eating a balanced healthy vegetarian diet which I found really interesting. Meanwhile, she started preparing her first dish – a Cous Cous Bake consisting of a tomato base, couscous layer and a yoghurt and cheese topping. 

Roselyne then moved on to make some delicious Vegetarian Burgers. 

It was really interesting to watch Roselyne making delicious vegetarian food. Both dishes tasted fantastic and would make great meals for feeding the family. I had a really lovely night and I am quite certain that everyone else did too.

Thanks to Sarah for hosting and Roselyne for coming and sharing an evening of Vegetarian Cookery with us.

Watch out for my version of the Cous Cous Bake recipe to follow on the blog.

Cadburys Joyville Chocolate Fountain

Last Saturday, eldest and I were transported to Joyville, a magical place where Joy is created through Chocolate. Joyville was bought to us in the form of a nine metre high Chocolate Fountain situated in the Westfield Shopping Centre. Whilst I must admit that Westfield Shopping Centre is most definitely not my idea of 'Joyville', a 9 metre high Chocolate Fountain is a pretty impressive sight to see and eldest was quite bowled over at the sight of so much chocolate.

We met up with Ren over at Fabulicious Food and her son, and we all donned purple cloaks to go on a tour of the fountain, which was essentially a walk around the fountain, led by one of the workers from Joyville, and a chance to sample the delicious chocolate at the end.

To find out more about Joyville click Here and you can find out more about the Chocolate Fountain Here. The Joyville Chocolate Fountain will be coming to various other towns in the UK within the coming weeks.

Disclosure: We were invited to this event and received a goody bag as a thanks for attending.





 

Pizza Express Launch New Leggera Pizza Range

Last week I was fortunate to be invited to Pizza Express in Islington to find out about the new Pizza Express Leggera Range.

Leggera means 'light' in Italian and so to create the new Leggera range, Pizza Express have taken their five most popular pizzas and transformed them into 500 calorie versions of their former selves. How have they done this? I hear you cry..... Well the Leggera range is inspired by a classic fresella bread from Naples – an Italian bread with a hole in the middle. By stretching the dough more, less dough is used and you end up with a lighter, more crispy base, and reduced calories. Additionally, the dough at the centre of the pizza has been replaced by a fresh salad of rocket and ricotta salata cheese which removes even more calories. Pizza Express are marketing their Leggera pizza range as containing 'more toppings, less bottom' and this is indeed they are.

There are two vegetarian pizzas included in the range, the Padana and the Pomodoro Pesto. I would suggest checking whether the pesto used is actually a vegetarian pesto as generally pesto is not truly vegetarian as it contains paremesan which is made from animal rennet, but from the perspective that they both do not contain meat, they would be classed as vegetarian pizza's

The original Padana Pizza contains 883 calories and the orginal Pomodoro Pesto Pizza contains 862 calories. There are just 500 calories in both of the Leggera versions, so you can see that you are eating over 300 calories less by choosing a Leggera range pizza over the original.

To tempt us to try the range, Pizza Express invited some local food and lifestyle bloggers to make their own Leggera pizza, so that we could see what it was like to make the range and test for ourselves whether a 500 calorie pizza had as much taste as its calorific cousin.

To start off our evening, we were treated to a demonstration of how to make a Padana Leggera Pizza by one of the Pizzaiolo's.

After he had demonstrated, it was then our turn to don aprons and hats and make our own Leggera pizza. I chose to make the Padano pizza, a romano base with red onion, caramelised onions and goats cheese. Before adding any toppings, we had to first prepare our base. We pressed, rolled and threw until the pizza dough was large enough to fit the pan.

We then cut a circle out of the middle using a cutter and then placed the toppings onto our pizza.

I added the tomato paste, goats cheese and red onion to my pizza,along with some herbs to add flavour.

Here I am with @Jhowse @cazroz and @mediocremum displaying the pizzas we made

This was my pizza after it came out of the oven

Here is the finished result, with the rocket, ricotta cheese and balsamic dressing added.

It was really fun and interesting making our pizzas and it was lovely to see how the range is made. After eating our Leggera pizzas, we all agreed that we felt full and felt like there had been enough on our plates. The addition of the salad really complimented the rest of the flavours in the pizza and made for a very filling meal. I cannot believe that there was only 500 calories in my pizza, I certainly did not feel short changed in any way. The Leggera range definitely makes a great alternative if you are counting calories or just want to have a lighter lunch. All in all it was a lovely night and also lovely to meet up with fellow bloggers again and chat.

Stay tuned as I will soon be going out on the town to test how the Leggera range we sampled during the launch evening compares to the Leggera range in one of our local pizza Express restaurants!

Blueberry and Oatmeal Muffins

Weekday mornings are always a stressful time in our house. The morning routine of getting the little ones up, dressed, breakfasted and ready for school is a constant race against the clock. No matter what time we wake up, we still seem to rush every morning to get to school, especially if we have been up in the night with our nocturnal two year old.

Often in the mornings, hubby and I are so focused on getting the kids fed, that we forget to feed ourselves and so end up rushing out of the door without any time to eat breakfast. I had been trying to figure out how we could make sure that we got something to eat in the mornings also. So when I came across these muffins in Commonsense Vegetarian, (one of my new cookbooks), I thought that they would make a great occasional breakfast on the run. The original recipe featured is Oatmeal and Raspberry Muffins, but as raspberries were quite pricey at the supermarket I went to, and I found blueberries on offer, I decided to use blueberries instead.

Making the muffins was a fab activity for youngest and I to do together. She loved stirring in the ingredients and of course licking the bowl afterwards!!

The Muffins we made tasted really great and they do make a great substitute breakfast when we are in a hurry. Here is the recipe:

Print this Recipe

Blueberry and Oatmeal Muffins Ingredients 125g Oatmeal 375ml Fresh Milk 250g Plain Flour 1 tbsp Baking Powder 115g Soft Brown Sugar 1 Egg, lightly beaten 90g Honey 60g Unsalted Butter, melted 150g Blueberries Method Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and grease a 12 hole muffin tin. Place the Oatmeal in a bowl, add the milk, stir and put to the side for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour and baking  powder in a large bowl and then stir in the brown sugar. Make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, egg and honey and mix well. Pour the wet mixture and the oatmeal mixture into the well in the flour and mix well but do not over mix. Gradually fold the blueberries into the mixture. Spoon the batter into the muffin holes and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving or transferring to an airtight tin.

Sun-dried Tomato and Chive Palmiers

Today I am featuring an adapted recipe from Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale. I received this recipe book for Christmas and have finally found some time to have a good look through it. This is not a book to cook from if you are dieting as the main categories for the book are:
Breads
Cakes
Savoury Baking
Desserts & Patisserie
Dinner Party
Sweet Treats

There are however, lots of great recipes in the book - a very high percentage of which are vegetarian, or could be adapted to be vegetarian.

When I came across these Palmiers, I thought that they looked really easy to make and would also taste delicious. I am happy to report that I was right. I used fresh chives rather than fresh thyme to make them and   I also used pre-bought store puff pastry which is always handy to have in the house. Rather than cutting the sun dried tomatoes and chives with a knife, I used some kitchen scissors to chop them up which I always think is much quicker and easier.

These Palmiers make a great after school snack, and also make great Canapes too for the grown-ups. I will be cooking more recipes from Baking Made Easy and will report back to let you know how I got on!

Sun-dried Tomato & Chive Palmiers Ingredients 1 Roll of ready to roll Puff Pastry 1 x 280g Jar of Sun Dried Tomatoes Between 5g and 10g of Fresh Chives 1 Egg, lightly beaten Method Roll out the ready made Puff Pastry and lightly brush with the beaten egg. Cut the sun dried tomatoes up into small pieces and place them evenly over the puff pastry. Cut the chives and sprinkle them evenly over the sun dried tomatoes. Now it is time to roll up the pastry. Take the two longest ends of the pastry and gently roll them towards each other to meet in the middle. Stick the two halves together by brushing some beaten egg down the middle of the pastry. Put the pastry onto a baking tray and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the pastry to harden a little. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. After 30 minutes remove the roll from the fridge and slice into 1cm thick pieces. Lay the pieces on a baking tray and brush with some more beaten egg. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden. Remove the Palmiers from the oven and leave to cool on a baking tray.

 

Vegetarian Chicken Supper in a Flash (Based on a Quorn Kitchen Recipe )

Do you ever have one of those days where dinner just doesn't go to plan? I do and I must say that recently it has been happening to me quite a bit more often than I would like. It all starts out so well.. you decide what you are going to eat... you start preparing and cooking your dish..... and then you find that actually the main ingredient that you thought was in the fridge/freezer/cupboard is no where to be found!

Well that's what happened to me when I start to cook what was supposed to be Vegetarian Bolognese with Jacket Potato. I started cooking the veg, only to discover that what I thought had been Vegetarian Mince, was in fact Vegetarian Chicken pieces. So I had to improvise a little....

I turned to my Quorn Kitchen cookbook and came up with a version of their "Steak Supper in a Flash" which included Vegetarian Chicken pieces and could incorporate the ingredients I was already part of the way through cooking. The original recipe includes 175g of cooked, halved New Potatoes, but as I already had Jacket Potatoes in the oven, I decided to omit them and use the rest of the ingredients as an accompaniment to my Jackets. If you were cooking the dish with the correct ingredients, you could use Quorn Steak Strips rather than Chicken and New Potatoes rather than Jackets. I used Onion and Carrot in the recipe, but the original calls for red Onion, so you could cook it with either. Anyway, here is my modified, saving dinner version:

Vegetarian Chicken Supper in a Flash Ingredients 175g Vegetarian Chicken Pieces 2 Onions, peeled and chopped 1 Carrot, peeled and chopped 2 Cloves Garlic, crushed 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper 1 tsp Mild Chilli Powder 100g Cherry Tomatoes, halved 300ml Hot Vegetable Stock 1tbsp Vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce Salt & Pepper for Seasoning Olive Oil for frying Method Chop the onion and carrot into small pieces and fry them with the garlic over a medium heat in some oil for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion starts to soften. Add the vegetarian chicken pieces with the chilli powder and cayenne pepper and fry for a further 2 to 3 minutes or until the chicken pieces begin to brown. Add the tomatoes (and new potatoes if using) and fry for 2 minutes. Stir the mixture well and then add the vegetable stock and vegetarian worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper if required.  Cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes, until all of the ingredients and flavours are combined well together and then serve immediately with jacket potato or crunchy bread.

How to make Bubble and Squeak

I am starting off this year by ticking a dish off my list which I have never made before, as I promised myself I would in my Blog Bucket List. So today I am featuring Bubble and Squeak.

Yes, I am quite ashamed to say that I have never ever made Bubble and Squeak, which is the easiest of classic Vegetarian recipes and great for using up left over potatoes and veg from your Sunday roast or celebration dinner.

I used up the left over mashed potato, cauliflower, carrots, and sprouts we had from our Sunday meal. I added an onion, a pepper and crushed garlic to the vegetables to give the bubble and squeak some more flavour, texture and colour, but you could just cook the potatoes and vegetables or additionally add anything you want to the mix. I served my Bubble and Squeak Cakes with Quorn sausages and a Rocket salad. This made a delicious meal and was a great way to use up the left overs. 

If you are cooking Bubble and Squeak for the first time, these are my tips:

Tips

• Ensure that the mixture isn't too wet so that the bubble and squeak does not break up.
• When making the cakes, compact the mixture tightly together to prevent break up
• Make sure that the oil is as hot as possible to enable the bubble and squeak to cook well
• Fry for a couple of minutes on each side and then place in the oven to cook, as the mixture starts to break up if left in the oil for too long.

 

Bubble and Squeak Print This Recipe Ingredients Left over Vegetables. I used Cauliflower, Carrots and Sprouts Left over mashed Potato. You could use boiled, mashed or roast Potato 1 Onion, chopped 1 Red Pepper, chopped 2 Cloves Garlic, crushed Plain Flour for coating Salt & Pepper for Seasoning Olive Oil for frying Method Chop the onion and peppers into small pieces and place them into a bowl. Mash up the left over potato and vegetables, or cut them into very small pieces and place them in the bowl with the onion and peppers. Crush the Garlic and add to the bowl, along with the salt and pepper to taste. Stir the mixture well so that all of the ingredients combine together. Once all of the ingredients are combined, take some of the mixture, compact it tightly together and make into a ball. Place onto a tray and press it down into a cake shape. Repeat with the rest of the mixture until you have a tray full of bubble and squeak cakes Once you are ready to start cooking the bubble and squeak, heat the oil in a  pan over a high heat until the oil is very hot.  Take the first cakes of bubble and squeak and  press them together more with your hands to get rid of excess mositure. Coat them completely in flour and add to the pan. Repeat with as many as you have room in the pan for (generally 2 or 3 depending on the pan size). Cook the cakes on one side for a couple of minutes or until light brown and then turn over and cook on the other side. Remove from the frying  pan, allow the fat to drain and then place on a baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the bubble and squeak mixture. Once all of the cakes are browned, bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the bubble and squeak is firm. Remove from the oven and serve.

Cheese & Vegetable Tortilla - Another Quick and Easy Tea

Yesterday was eldest's first day back at school, so naturally when she arrived home she was "Absolutely Starving", despite having school dinner with Jam Tart & Custard for pudding only a few hours earlier!

To satisfy her rumbling tummy I whipped up a batch of these cheese and vegetable tortillas. They are really easy to make and cook really quickly too, so they make a great meal when you don't have much time on your hands.

The main base for these tortillas is cheese and then you can add pretty much whatever else you like to the mix. Sometimes I will cook them with just cheese, or with cheese and tomato puree in the middle - like a tortilla pizza. I have added vegetables to the tortillas I am featuring today. If I was cooking them for myself then I would have also added some chopped mushrooms and fresh herbs but as I have mentioned previously, my kids will not eat them if they are obvious in a dish.

Cheese & Vegetable Tortillas Makes 4 Tortillas Ingredients 8 Flour Tortillas 1 Onion, chopped 1 Red Pepper, chopped 1 Yellow Pepper, chopped 1 x 325g tin of Sweetcorn, drained 3 tbsp Soft Cream Cheese 150g Cheddar Cheese (100g & 50g reserved) Salt & Pepper for Seasoning Method Chop the onion and peppers into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Drain the sweetcorn and add to the onion and peppers. Add the cream cheese (I used a spoon, warmed in some hot water to make it easier to spoon the cheese into the bowl). Stir the mixture well so that the cream cheese combines with the vegetables. Add 100g of the cheddar cheese and stir once again to combine evenly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Next, start to fill the tortillas with the mixture. Take a whole tortilla and spread a bit of the mixture over the top, then sprinkle some of the reserved cheddar cheese over the mixture. Cover the mixture with another tortilla and press down a little to stick together. Repeat this process until the desired amount of tortillas have been made. Place one tortilla on a grill pan and grill on a medium to high heat for around 3 minutes (or until the tortillla browns) on each side. Repeat for each tortilla. Cut up, serve warm or cold with some sour cream, and enjoy!

2012 Bucket List Blog Hop Link-Up

Earlier this week, I emailed Sally at the Tots 100 with my thoughts about inspiration for blog posts in 2012. I suggested that I would most like to see posts about Bucket Lists this year as I want to challenge people to realise their goals and achieve them.

This got me thinking about my real life general bucket list. There are lots of things that I would like to do during my life - so many that I could spend all day listing them. However, here are a few to start off with:

My Life Bucket List

Live in another Country. Travel to as many Countries as possible. Visit the Ice Hotel . Make most of my Income Online. (wishful thinking) Take my kids to a Music Festival. Watch the Sun rise over the Pacific Ocean. Go Whale and/or Dolphin Watching. Dance on TV or in a Musical. Live in a big mansion in the City I choose. Tandem Skydive. (Need to get the courage up for that one)

So not quite my complete ultimate life Bucket List, but a good start for 2012.

This also got me thinking about my blog bucket list for 2012. I am trying to be a little more realistic with this one and think of things that I might feasibly be able to accomplish rather than world blog domination!! So here is my blog bucket list of things I would like to achieve in 2012:

My Blog Bucket List

Attend a Vegetarian Cookery Course & Utensil Skills Course. Review the Vegetarian menu in Restaurants. Go on a blogging travel trip related to Vegetarian food. Interview a Vegetarian Chef/Celebrity. Challenge myself to cook a new dish I have never cooked before every week & cook from my new recipe books. (See below) Attend blogging conventions and meet more lovely bloggers. Make it into the Tots or Foodies 100 just once. (more wishful thinking!!) Improve my food photography skills (or buy a better camera) Learn more HTML. Perhaps through my blog earn an income, or get more copywriting/freelance writing/Fundraising or PR work so that I can feel less guilty about not having a full time high flying Career.

I have already started fulfilling one of these wishes as today I learnt HTML for how to insert borders around images and tables into blogger - a big achievement for me!!. I also created my own blog hop image and link - an even bigger achievement!

As listed in my 2012 Bucket List, I received some new recipe books for Christmas and so I am looking forward to cooking some dishes out of them and seeing which dishes I can adapt to turn Vegetarian! 

Do you have any favourites from these recipe books you could recommend?

So that's me at the beginning of 2012! I will hopefully be blogging about how my bucket lists are going (or not) throughout the rest of the year.

I thought it would be fun to create a Blog Hop so that you could link your own 2012 Bucket List. However realistic or fantastical it is, I would love to read it. All you have to do is copy the badge to your post and then enter your details in the link.