Sticky Sweet Vegetarian Sausage Stew

Hello all! I haven't posted a vegetarian post for a week - we have had intermittent internet access at home and so I haven't been able to blog this recipe which I have been hanging on to for a week or so. Isn't it funny that we rely on the internet so much these days - I have been getting withdrawal symptoms from not being able to post!

So to start the week, I am featuring a Sticky, Sweet Vegetarian Sausage Stew. When I cooked this recipe, the weather was cold and snowy, and it was a real winter warmer. However as the weather is slowly starting to improve, this hearty dish is still a fabulous meal to place on the table for the family to eat together. I love one pot or one dish cooking which the family can share out together, and this recipe certainly hits the spot.

I cooked my Sticky Sweet Vegetarian Sausage Stew twice - once on the hob and once in the slow cooker. Although the dish tasted delicious cooked on the hob, I much preferred the ingredients cooked in the slow cooker. The flavours fused together so well and the fact that they had so long to cook really bought out the sweetness of the dish, which I absolutely love, juxtaposed with the savoury ingredients in the recipe. The name - Sticky Sweet Vegetarian Sausage Stew may sound a bit too sugary if you don't have a sweet tooth, but the rest of the flavours give a really good balance to the dish. I recommend giving the recipe a go and then let me know what you think! 

Sticky Sweet Vegetarian Sausage Stew Ingredients 2 tbsp Olive Oil 2 medium Onions, chopped 8 Quorn Vegetarian Sausages 2 Carrots, chopped 2 Parsnips, chopped 2 eating Apples, peeled, cored and chopped 1 x 400g tin Chopped Tomatoes 1 Vegetable Stock Cube, crumbled 200ml Hot Water 2 tbsp Tomato Puree 2 tbsp Honey 1tsp Chilli Powder 1tsp Paprika 1tsp Mustard Seeds Salt and Pepper to taste Method Brush the vegetarian sausages with oil and cook them under the grill for about 15 minutes or until browned, turning as required. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion over a low heat until it is transparent (around 5-6 minutes). Add the carrots and parsnips to the pan and continue to cook for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the vegetables have begun to soften. Add the apples and the honey to the mixture and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes over a medium heat.  Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, vegetable stock, hot water, chilli powder, paprika, mustard seeds, salt and pepper to the pan. Combine the ingredients together well, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. By this point the sausages should be cooked. Chop them into chunks and add the sausages to the pan.  Cover and cook the mixture for a further 20 minutes, stirring regularly. (You can add extra hot water if the mixture is getting too thick). After 20 minutes, the vegetables should have softened and the flavours should have fused well together. If not, cook in 5 minute increments until this has happened. Once ready, remove the mixture from the heat, allow to cool slightly and serve immediately.  We served ours with Cheese and Chive Bread. You can also cook this recipe in the slow cooker: Slow Cooked Version Brush the vegetarian sausages with oil and cook them under the grill for about 15 minutes or until browned, turning as required. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion over a low heat until it is transparent (around 5-6 minutes). Add the carrots and parsnips to the pan and continue to cook for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the vegetables have begun to soften. Add the apples and the honey to the mixture and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes over a medium heat. Next, remove the pan from the heat and add the ingredients to the slow cooker. Slice the sausages into chunks and place them in the slow cooker also. Place all of the other ingredients in the slow cooker, and add an extra tablespoon or two of honey to the mixture to bring out the flavour in the slow cooker. You may also need to add extra hot water, so that all of the ingredients are covered by liquid. Cook either on low for 6 to 8 hours plus, or high for 4 to 5 hours. Allow to cool slightly and serve.  You can also freeze this once cooked.

I am entering this recipe into Family Friendly Friday's, over at Fabulicious Food

Absolute Indian Cookery School, St Albans - Review

                                                        

A few weeks ago, I was lucky to be offered a cookery lesson by Sheba Promod, who runs Absolute Indian Cookery School in St Albans. Sheba, who is originally from Kerela, South India, gained her love of authentic Indian cuisine growing up watching her mother cook and prepare food for the family. Kerela plays a key role in the spice trade and has done since the Greek and Roman times. Spices and ingredients growing locally, such as Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Vanilla & Coconut, influence the flavours and appearance of Kerelan Cuisine. Sheba's cookery features mainly Kerelan cuisine, and incorporates delicious authentic Indian dishes generally not found in an Indian takeaway in the UK. 

Powdered Spices

During our lesson, Sheba showed me how to make some Vegetarian dishes, and told me about the different kinds of dishes which would make up a Vegetarian meal in South India.

Sheba, who also runs her own Spice Boutique, started by giving me a run down of the kind of spices generally used in Indian Cooking and explained how different spices can influence the flavour of different dishes. Spices in Indian Cookery include Turmeric, Paprika, Ginger, Cloves and Cumin. People often say that they don't like "spicy" food, and so avoid cooking with any spices, however, many times, it will actually be that people don't like "hot" spicy foods, rather than any spicy foods. We tried each spice individually, to get a sense of how they tasted individually and what kind of dish they would complement.

Whole Spices

We then moved on to cooking, and started by making Avial - A South Indian Vegetable Curry. Avial is typically made with a combination of vegetables, coconut and curry leaves, and served with rice. Avial is considered an essential part of a "Sadya" or Vegetarian banquet in Kerela. Sheba used carrots, cucumber, potato, drumstick, and small purple aubergines to create Avial. Drumstick is a vegetable native to India. This, and many of the other ingredients used in Kerelan cooking are available from shops specialising in Asian foods in the UK. There is one locally in St Albans where many ingredients can be sourced from.

Cooking Avial

Next, we made a Brinjal Bhaji, also known as Aubergine Bhaji. In this country, we typically recognise Bhaji's as being coated and fried, and looking like a patty, but this Aubergine Bhaji is actually a mixed vegetable side dish coated in spices. Sheba recommends that small purple Aubergines are best for this dish and for the Avial, rather than large regular aubergines, and the small aubergines go well with the other colours of the food in the dish.We started by frying the aubergines in some oil, then removing them. Next we added the spices to the oil and fried the tomatoes in them, before adding the rest of the ingredients to finish. I really enjoyed making and eating the Aubergine Bhaji, and it is a great bright, colourful and aesthetically pleasing dish to bring to the table.

Coating the tomatoes in spices

Brinji Bhaji Side Dish

To finish off, Sheba showed me how to make Dal Palak (Lentils with Spinach). Dal is great for adding protein to your diet, especially if you follow a vegetarian diet. Sheba described Dal as the Indian equivalent of Chicken Soup! Dal is quite a plain, filling dish, so it is great if you just fancy something quite plain to eat on it's own, or as part of a larger meal. Sheba used a pressure cooker to make this dish, but you could try it in the slow cooker, or in a regular saucepan. The important thing is that the lentils have had enough time to soak, and you have added enough water to the pan.

Dal Palak

We ran out of time to make Chapati's to accompany the rest of the food we made, but Sheba gave me a recipe to try at home. Sheba stock's a wonderful Chapati rolling pin in her Webshop, perfect for rolling out Chapatis or other breads

I would definitely recommend booking an Absolute Indian Cookery Course if you are local to the area. Visit the website to find out more about the different kinds of courses available. Thanks to Sheba for showing me some authentic Indian Cooking and inspiring me with her home made Ghee. I will definitely be trying out some of the dishes and techniques that I learned. My husband was very pleased when I arrived home with Indian takeaway dishes full of delicious, home made Indian Cusine!
 

Disclousure: Cookery Lesson offered in consideration of review

Hot Chocolate or Hot Schnocolate!!

Oh the weather outside is frightful,

but the fire is so delightful,

and since we've no place to go,

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Yes, half term is well and truly upon us, and so as we have nowhere to officially "be" for the next week, we are happy to have the luxury to stay at home and have fun, whilst the world revolves around us.

The food and drink we consume at home is largely guided by the seasons and so since the snow has been falling and temperatures have been plummeting over the last week, we are having lots of hearty food and hot drinks to keep warm. There is one hot drink in particular that my kids love more than any other, and which is guaranteed to warm them up and bring a smile to their faces. This is of course Hot Chocolate! or as they like to call it when they drink it in the snow, Hot Schnocolate!

Last night when we arrived home from school, eldest asked if we could make some Hot Schnocolate as she had been out in the snow at school and needed warming up. We prefer to make our Hot Chocolate from scratch rather than making it from the packet. It tastes better, and you can also decide how much chocolate or sugar you would like to add, so you can make it slightly healthier for the kids by adding less chocolate and sugar.

Here is eldest enjoying hers in the snow and the recipe for our Hot Schnocolate is below!

Hot Schnocolate Ingredients 750ml Full Fat Milk 150g Dark Chocolate or Dark Chocolate Chips 2tsp Cinnamon 4tsp Sugar For Decorating 150ml Cream - whipping or double (or) UHT Aerosol Cream Crushed Candy Canes Chocolate Chips Method If you are using fresh cream, whip the cream together with a whisk and then place to the side. In a saucepan, heat the chocolate and the milk over a low heat until the chocolate has melted. Once the chocolate has melted, stir in the cinnamon and continue to heat for a couple of minutes. Next, stir in the sugar and bring to the boiling point, but do not let the mixture boil. Whilst the mixture is heating, remove a couple of candy canes from their packaging and place them into a ziploc bag. Bash them into splinters with a rolling pin and then remove from the bag. Once the mixture is ready, pour it into four mugs and top the chocolate with the whipped or aerosol cream.  Sprinkle some chocolate chips and crushed candy canes over the top of the cream and your hot Schnocolate is ready to drink. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Top 5 Wedding Cake Tips

Picking out your wedding cake should be a joyful experience, but it can easily turn into a nightmare for brides and grooms who are being pulled in different directions by their family and friends, or who might choose a baker who doesn't deliver their dream cake. So to avoid the anxiety, here are some tips to help brides to be choose the right wedding cakes for their wedding.

Avoid Very Bright Frosting
Having a cake iced in a fluorescent colour may seem like a good idea, but the dye used to colour the icing is likely to stain everyone's lips and teeth as well as their clothing. It is better to use brightly coloured ribbon or flowers to add colour to the cake.

Choose Several Flavours
There is no way to choose every guest's favourite wedding cake flavour, but it is good to have several cake options available. Vanilla buttercream and fruit are the more traditional wedding cake flavours, although chocolate or lemon are becoming increasingly popular, along with carrot cake. Many brides and grooms buy layered cakes so that each layer is a different flavour and guests are offered more choice. If you want to make sure that your cake is completely vegetarian or vegan, consider finding a baker who specialises in these areas of baking.

Don't Let a Friend Make Your Cake
Some couples allow a friend to make their cake to save money, but unless your friend makes cakes for a living, buying the cake from a professional baker is usually worth the investment. Wedding cakes may not look difficult to make, but it is essential that the finished cake looks great, and it would be terrible to lose a friend because your visions of the perfect cake are not the same.

Have the Cake Delivered and Set Up Professionally
Picking up the cake may seem like a good way to save money, but layered cakes can be difficult to assemble and it would be a tragedy to leave the bakery with a beautiful cake, only to have it be ruined whilst being transported to the reception or during assembly.

Don't Listen to Everyone's Opinions
When it comes to choosing wedding cake toppers or decorations, most people won't be shy about sharing their opinions. It is a good idea for the bride and groom to sit down together and choose a cake design they love, regardless of everyone else's feelings,. It is also important to choose something which is personal to you both and which fits in with the theme of the wedding.

Disclosure: This is a Featured Post which I have been compensated for.

Hotel Chocolat Valentines Gift Review

The last taste of sweets, is sweetest last, Writ in remembrance more than things long past.” 

--William Shakespeare

Yes Valentines will soon be upon us, and what better to say "I love you" than with chocolate?

The tree that chocolate comes from is called the "theobroma cacao", which in Greek means "food for the gods" and I would definitely concur that's what good, quality chocolate is! Chocolate is an aphrodisiac which is said to symbolize luxury, love, passion and affection.  It is the most chosen valentines gift by lovers from generations way back into ancient times. 

So if you decide to follow the path of history and buy Chocolate for your loved ones this Valentines, then make sure that you buy some decent chocolates rather than rushing to the petrol station the night before! To score even more brownie points, I am sure that almost anyone would appreciate a chosen gift from  Hotel Chocolat. Hotel Chocolat has a whole host of wonderful valentines gifts on their Valentines Gifts Page this year, perfect for that special someone in your life.

To give us a taste of their Valentines range, Hotel Chocolat kindly sent me their Sleekster Love Selection to sample. The Sleekster Love Selection is really reasonably priced at £22 and features a range of delicious flavours including Bison Grass Vodka, Praline Oyster, Champagne Truffle, Bucks Fizz and the classic Caramel and Chilli Sweetheart Heart shaped Chocolates. The packaging and presentation of the chocolates is amazing. They look so beautiful and my heart skipped a tiny beat when I opened the box! If I were to receive these chocolates on Valentines day I would certainly be one happy lady.

You can view the full Hotel Chocolat Valentines range here. I would definitely recommend going over and having a look. 

Happy Valentines Day for the 14th February!!

Disclaimer: Product offered in Consideration for Review

Twenty-First Century Cheese and Chive Bread

There is nothing like the smell and taste of fresh bread when the weather is cold, and so today I am featuring a super quick tasty recipe for a chilly day! Lorraine Pascale's "Twenty-First Century Bread" recipe is featured in her book, Home Cooking Made Easy. This is a great recipe as it can be made and cooked in just about an hour. There is no yeast involved in this bread recipe, and you don't have to stick it in the airing cupboard to wait for it to rise. You can just make the bread, cook it, and enjoy the fruits of your labour immediately! Lorraine created a Ham, Cheese and Chive recipe to make her bread, but I decided to omit the Ham in my version to make the bread meat-free. 

If you have never made bread before, or have always been a bit apprehensive about making it, then this is the ideal recipe to try as it is so easy and tastes delicious. Here is my recipe for Cheese and Chive bread. 

Twenty-First Century Cheese & Chive Bread Ingredients 425g Self-Raising Flour 1 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Salt 150g Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated, plus an extra 10g Cheese for sprinkling 1/2 bunch of Fresh Chives, finely chopped Few twists of Black Pepper 1tsp Paprika 1tsp Mustard Powder (I used Mustard Seeds) 200-225ml Water Method Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsisus. Place all of the ingredients, aside from the water and 10g of cheese in a bowl and mix the ingredients together well. Add some of the water to the bowl - enough to make a soft but not sticky dough. (This would generally be about 200ml). Then bring the dough together with your hands and add more water if necessary to bring all of the dough together. Once this has been done, remove the dough from the bowl and roll the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball, to help it cook more quickly and then place on a baking tray. Make three scores of the bread with a knife and then sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the bread. Spray some watrer into the oven to create a steamy atmosphere (around 8-10 squirts), then place the dough on a baking tray and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the bread has turned golden brown and smells cooked. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little bit before serving.

Kids Pizza Making Party At Pizza Express

This week it was eldest's birthday. She invited her friends along to a pizza making party at our local Pizza Express. I was a bit apprehensive about how it was going to go, but eldest and her friends absolutely loved it. They had the best time.

All of the kids got to make their own pizza from scratch. They pressed out the dough and put the toppings on themselves and had great fun deciding what they would adorn their pizza's with. Once the pizza was cooked, the kids tucked into their own creations and then later washed them down with lashings of chocolate cake and ice cream. This was followed by birthday cake and a rendition of Happy Birthday for eldest. We also took along a pass the parcel game and other things to keep the kids occupied during courses and they just had so much fun!. The staff at our local Pizza Express were so attentive and our waiter especially was fantastic. I would definitely recommend a Pizza Express party for kids of any age. Here are some pics from eldest's party.

Waiting for everyone to arrive

Getting ready to make pizza!

Pressing out the dough

Adding the sauce

Pizza's ready to go in the oven

Eldest and her best friend

Eating the fruits of her labour

Birthday Cake!

As with all other photos, these pictures are copyrighted, so please do not attempt to reproduce them as I do check!!

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post in any way, eldest just had a really fab time and so I wanted to share!

Tomato Couscous Bake

Following on from my post about our visit from La Cuisine Imaginaire cookery school, today I am attempting to recreate a version of the dish which Roselyne showed us how to make. The dish is a Tomato Couscous bake. I have never been very good at cooking with couscous, mainly because I am not amazingly good at coming up with ideas of what to make with it. However, it is a super ingredient to use if you are a vegetarian as it is full of protein, fibre and B vitamins. It also adds bulk to dishes to help them to fill you up and go further. This Couscous bake was really easy to make, quick to assemble and was also really delicious. I will definitely be making it again! I think it would be especially great to eat in the summer.

For the tomato base, I used onion, pepper, tomatoes and courgettes, but you could use any vegetables you would like. Mushrooms and sweetcorn might be a good addition, or you could maybe use some root vegetables for a really hearty meal in the cold winter months.

Tomato Couscous Bake Ingredients 1 Onion, peeled and sliced 1 Red Pepper, chopped and sliced 1 Yellow Pepper, chopped and sliced 2 Courgettes, chopped and sliced 2 Cloves Garlic, crushed Olive Oil for frying 1 x 400ml tin of Tomatoes 1tsp Oregano 1tsp Mixed Herbs 2 tbsp Tomato Puree 100g Cherry Tomatoes 8 oz Couscous 14oz Hot Water 150g Cheddar Cheese plus 50g to decorate 500g Greek Yoghurt Salt and Pepper to taste Method Chop the onion, pepper and courgettes into small pieces and crush the garlic. Gently fry the onion and crushed garlic in olive oil for around 5 minutes, or until the onion starts to turn golden. Add the courgettes and peppers to the pan and continue to fry for a further 5 minutes Once the vegetables have started to soften, add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, cherry tomatoes, oregano and mixed herbs to the pan and continue to cook on a low heat for a further 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the kettle and measure out the couscous.  Once the kettle has boiled, place the couscous in a large heatproof bowl and add the hot water. The hot water should cover the couscous. If it does not then add a little more water so that it is covered to start off with but will be eventually absorbed. Cover the bowl with a large dinner plate and leave for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the greek yoghurt and cheese together and season with salt and pepper. Once the tomato mixture is cooked, Take an oven proof casserole dish and place the mixture in the bottom. Smooth over the top. Once the couscous is cooked, layer the couscous over the tomato mixture, covering completely. Finally, layer the yoghurt and cheese mixture over the top of the couscous and top with the reserved cheese. Cook in the oven at 200 degrees for  about 20 minutes. Serve Immediately,

 I am entering this into the Family Friendly Friday Link Up over at Fabulicious Food