Vegetarian Mince & Bean Hotpot

Even though we are in the midst of summer, I am still enjoying using my slow cooker and cooking some delicious traditional dishes. This week I made a Vegetarian Mince and Bean Hot Pot in the slow cooker. As a vegetarian, getting enough protein in my children's diets is important to me, so I regularly cook with mycoprotein (such as quorn veggie mince). Mycoprotein is a high quality form of protein which is low in fat and contains no cholesterol or trans fat. It is also a good source of fibre and it is great for those trying to maintain a healthy, meat-free diet. 

I really enjoy cooking in the slow cooker and the length of cooking really intensifies all of the flavours in the dish. We were so eager to eat our Vegetarian Mince and Bean Hot Pot, that I forgot to take a picture!, but I am going to take one next time I make it.

I am entering this into Mediocre Mum's Slow Cooker Sunday Linky hosted this week by The Boy and Me

I am also entering it into "Viva Veg" hosted by Ally over at Plus2point4

                                                                    

Vegetarian Mince & Bean Hot Pot Ingredients Olive Oil 2 Onions, chopped  1 Red Pepper, chopped 2 cloves Garlic, peeled & crushed 400g Vegetarian Mince 1 x 400g tin of Chickpeas 1 x 400g tin of Baked Beans 1 x 400g tinned chopped Tomatoes 500g Passata 3 tbsp Tomato Puree 2tsp Italian Seasoning Salt & Pepper 1kg Potatoes, sliced into circles Cheese on Top (if desired) Method Gently fry the onion and garlic in some oil until the onion has softened. Add the Pepper to the onion and continue to cook until the pepper has softened. Add the mince to the pan and continue to fry for a few minutes until the mince has started to brown and soften, or for around 5 minutes. Add the onion, pepper and mince to the slow cooker. Add the chickpeas, baked beans, tomatoes, passata, tomato puree, italian seasoning, and salt & pepper to the pan and mix well. If you find that there isn't enough liquid in the slow cooker, add a little water or some extra tomato juice. Cook in the slow cooker on low for around two hours. After three hours, add the potatoes and cook for a further two-three hours. If like me, you like the potatoes very crispy on the top, then you could add a little cheese over the top of the potatoes, and  place the slow cooker pot into a conventional oven for around 30 minutes at 200 degrees celsius, to make the potatoes crispy. We had our mince & bean hot pot with some Chantenay carrots, and some sour cream on the side.

Wines with Style: Pairing Wine with Vegetarian Summer Foods

Recently, I was invited to take part in a campaign called "Wines with Style", which aims to introduce French Wines to a European audience. "Wines with Style" is designed to offer consumers an easier route into understanding wine, whilst reassuring them that the wine they are buying is good quality. It also aims to demonstrate that french wines can fit perfectly into a modern context. 

            

I am a big fan of french wine, as I much prefer old world wine to new world wine. (Old world wine is wine from Europe and the Mediterranean which has been producing wine for many centuries. New world wine is wine from countries such as United States, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa or Argentina which has been producing wine only since around the fifteenth or sixteenth century). Recently, our ladies circle attended a wine tasting evening where we compared old world and new world equivalents, and the old world wine won every time for me. So I was really pleased when I was sent two delicious French wines to review. I was also asked to suggest some summer dishes which would pair well with the wine. 

As I have written about before, wine is often marketed as fantastic food to be paired with meat or fish, and the non-vegetarian bbq sauce and mustard ingredients I was sent with my wine would certainly suggest this. Vegetarian food and wine pairings often go unmentioned, and so it is often tricky for vegetarians to pick wine to go with their food, especially if they don't know much about wine and the bottle just suggests white or red meat, or fish.

Most wine tastings I have ever attended have suggested pairing foods and wines from the same country together. They have also suggested that heavy foods go well with heavy wines, and light foods go well with light wines. There is also a school of thought that young wines pair well with simple foods, whilst older wines pair well with heavier foods. All of these principles can be used and considered when choosing wines which pair well with vegetarian foods.

The two wines I was sent to try were:

Les Rocailles, Apremont Vin de Savoie 2011 and Les Volets Chardonnay, PGI Haute Vallee de L'Aude 2009.

The first wine I tried was the Les Rocailles, Apremont Vin de Savoie 2011.

                                                        

This wine was a very light, floral wine, with a hint of spritz. A young wine, it had hints of honeydew and a very delicate flavour. This was a lovely wine, although I found it a little too light for my liking and wished it had a slightly stronger flavour, though this could come with age. As this wine is a very young, light, delicate wine, I think that it would pair well with either a light dessert, or a salad. I would be tempted to pair it with a very summery Goats Cheese and Mango Salad or perhaps a Lemon Posset

                                   

                                     

The next wine I tried was the Les Volets Chardonnay, PGI Haute Vallee de L'Aude 2009.

                                   

This was a clean, crisp, aromatic, oaky, nutty wine, which was very smooth and not to overpowering. As it was so young and crisp, I think it would probably be very easy to sit and drink the whole bottle, as the second glass tasted much nicer than the first. There was a slight taste of oak, which gave it a really lovely flavour, but it did not overpower the wine. Hubby and I really enjoyed this wine and it was our favourite of the two. It would definitely be a wine we would buy again. Chardonnay is often synonymous with being quite dry and leaving a bitter aftertaste in your mouth, but this Chardonnay did neither. It was so creamy, fruity, and just a really lovely summery wine to drink. In terms of summer food I would pair this wine with, I think I would pair it with Tarte a la Oignon, as it is a recipe which originates from the same country as the wine and I think that the flavours would complement each other. 

                                         

Summer is also often synonymous with BBQ food, and there are some great vegetarian dishes which cook well on the BBQ and would go well with this wine. Mushroom and Stilton Burgers would go well with Chardonnay and can be bbq'd. Or perhaps some portobello mushrooms, stuffed with French stilton or Roule, bbq'd and drizzled with some delicious Balsamic reduction would go well with this Chardonnay. Alternatively, I think that some grilled vegetable kebabs with a sticky balsamic glaze would go well with this wine, or perhaps a whole camembert, stuffed with garlic and herbs, wrapped in foil and warmed on the bbq, then served with a delicious crunchy french baguette and a crisp, green salad. 

I really enjoyed trying these delicious french wines and considering what vegetarian food I could pair with them. It definitely made me think about enjoying a nice glass of wine with some delicious food in the garden on a summers day!

Disclosure: I was sent two bottles of wine, BBQ sauce, mustard and herbs de provence in consideration for review.

Spiced Butternut Tagine

Recently at a Total Event with Chef Paul Merrett, we made a delicious Mediterranean Butternut Tagine. It tasted so delicious, that I wanted to share it with my hubby and family and recreate it at home. As is frequently the case, I didn't have completely the right ingredients to follow the recipe, so I omitted the olives, apricots and coriander and added some mushrooms, a tin of kidney beans and a couple of tablespoons of honey. As long as you keep the base of the Tagine the same, you could add whatever vegetables or ingredients you would like to it. I also had no cauliflower to make the wonderful cauliflower couscous that Paul showed us how to make, so I ended up using rice, and eating the leftovers with some wonderful crunchy bread. 

For a yoghurt dip, I mixed paprika, plain yoghurt, mint jelly and fennel seeds together and left out the coriander as I had none. I love the yoghurt/mint jelly combination of ingredients - it makes a great quick and easy dip for lots of spicy dishes, or its also a great dip to whip out for crudities when you have people over.

Although this is more of a winter dish, it tastes wonderful in the summer also as it isn't too heavy.I have included the original recipe below, but do play around with it and use different flavour combinations. 

Spiced Butternut Tagine with Roasted Pepper and Tomato & Toasted Fennel Seed Yoghurt Served With Cauliflower Couscous Serves 4 Ingredients: For the Spice Mix: ½ tbsp of fennel seeds 2 pinches of chilli flakes ½ tbsp of cumin seeds 1 tsp of coriander seeds 1 inch of cinnamon 1 tsp of ground ginger ½ tbsp of paprika For the Tagine: 1 butternut squash, peeled and roughly cut into 3cm cubes 8 cloves garlic, chopped 1 red onion diced 1 yellow pepper, diced into 3 cm squares 1 red pepper, diced into 3cm squares 1¾ tin of chopped tomatoes 100g of dried apricots, halved Approx 20 green olives 1 tin of chick peas Olive oil (for frying) For the Fennel Seed Yoghurt: 200g of TOTAL Greek yoghurt 2 tsp of fennel seeds ½ tsp of smoked paprika 1 tbsp of coriander, chopped 1 tsp mint, chopped For the Cauliflower Couscous: 1 head of cauliflower 20 inch square of muslin Method: Dry fry, cool and grind all spices for the spice mix in the pestle and mortar. Dust the cubed butternut squash with a third of the spice mix and fry in batches until brown   all over. At this point you are just ‘colouring’ your squash. Set aside. Heat a casserole and fry the garlic and red onion.  Add the peppers. Add the tomatoes and bring the pot to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the dried apricots, olives and chickpeas. Add a little water at this point if required. Add the pre roasted butternut and another third of the spice mix. Cook on until the butternut is just cooked (about 5 min). Check the seasoning and add a little salt and some more spice mix if required. Toast the fennel seeds in a frying pan, cool and grind. Mix the yoghurt with the fennel seeds, paprika, mint & coriander and set aside.  Trim cauliflower florets from the stalk. Whizz up the florets to a crumb in a food processor. Wrap the cauliflower couscous in the muslin and place in a colander over a pan of boiling water for approximately 5 minutes.

Tips for Saving Money at the Supermarket

In the current climate I'm sure we would all like to save a little money on our supermarket shopping. I know I certainly would, and since being made redundant, I have tried to do so each week. I seemed to be succeeding until recently, when the price of food has increased and I have found my shopping trolley costing more each week.

Therefore, today I am going to share with you some money saving tips which I have recently found useful to help lower the cost of my supermarket shop each week.

Tips:

• Do your weekly shopping one day later every week - you will save one week's equivalent shopping every eight weeks.
• Write a list and stick to it, or go in with a list of essentials, and buy items on offer at the supermarket to create meals.
• Shop alone - I don't know about you, but I always find that my supermarket bill is higher when hubby or the kids are shopping with me.
• Do a meat-less shop. It is a well known fact that a vegetarian or vegan diet costs less.

One other big way I have tried to save money is by switching from leading brands to shop brands. Switching from leading brands saves money, and you don't always have to compromise on quality as often, the products are made in the same factories and are essentially the same product repackaged in many cases.

This infographic recently released by Aldi shows how switching only four leading brands can save money each week. 

Aldi have also begun a TV campaign to let people know about the savings they can make by switching to shop brands. This one is a particular favourite of mine. These noticeable savings are definitely a reason to visit Aldi, especially as Aldi was recently named Which? Best Supermarket based on customer satisfaction, value for money, reliability and quality. To find out more about brand switching savings, visit the Aldi website.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Aldi. All opinions are my own. 

Brewers Fayre Watford: The Rising Sun - Review

Recently we were invited by Brewers Fayre to review their Watford restaurant. We carried out an anonymous review a few Saturdays ago. When we entered, we were greeted warmly by the manager who took us to our table and explained how the restaurant worked. The waitress then came around with crayons and activity packs for the girls and again welcomed us politely to the restaurant. The girls eagerly began colouring and choosing their food. They have been to this restaurant before, and so were excited to come again. At Brewers Fayre you have to go up and order your food at the bar, noting the table number it will be delivered too. If you are having the 'Bottomless' drink option, you also have to leave the table and get your own drinks yourself. Personally, I dislike both of these processes as I don't find it very conducive to enjoying a relaxed family meal and sharing time together. I also don't think it is very family-friendly or practical when you have kids to have to keep leaving the table to go up and order food, and get drinks, especially if you were a single parent or dining on your own with the children as it breaks up the meal and the conversation, and you have to worry about leaving the kids at the table, or leaving the table and dragging them along with you.   

Having said that, this is a family restaurant, designed to appeal to all ages, and there is a wide choice of meals for children and for adults. There are also healthy options on the children's menu which I like to see. Vegetarian main course options for the adults include Vegetable Lasagne, Cheese and Onion Quiche, Goan Vegetable Currry (which I have had previously) and Quorn Chilli. Vegetarian non-meat starters consist of Soup, Camembert and Breaded Mushrooms. There are also various specials on the specials board, along with different meal deals including two meals for ten pounds and two desserts for two pounds at certain times of the day. Additionally, there is a different all-you-can-eat buffet held each day - although it doesn't seem very vegetarian friendly.

After deciding what we would like, I went up to order our food at the bar, leaving hubby to entertain the monsters. I ordered our starters, main courses and drinks, opening a tab to do so. I decided to road-test the service and asked for the Vegetarian Quorn Chilli - currently available on the lunchtime menu but not the main evening menu. I was able to order the Vegetarian Chilli, and Sarah, my server was very pleasant and happy to accommodate my request.

To start I ordered the Garlic Mushrooms, served with a garlic mayonnaise. It was evident that these were cooked from frozen due to their watery nature, but I wouldn't have expected anything else from a chain restaurant. The mushrooms were nice enough and most importantly were served hot. The kids had Garlic Bread, which they enjoyed and hubby went for a Chicken starter which again he really enjoyed. Our starters were served within a realistic timescale and by friendly waitresses. 

For main course, both kids chose a non-veggie Chicken Nuggets, with Chips and Corn on the Cob. The portions were served on the same sized plate as hubby had his dinner on, so definitely an ample portion for them. They couldn't manage all of their dinner as it was so big, but they did enjoy what they ate. I had the Vegetarian Chilli, with Sour Cream, Tortillas and Rice. I really enjoyed my main course. Although not very imaginatively served, and again, warmed through rather than made from scratch, my chilli did taste good. I would have preferred a larger portion of sour cream than the tiny portion I got, but apart from that I enjoyed it. Hubby chose the mixed grill and readily devoured his dinner, enjoying it also.

After dinner, there was a short interlude where we were not really sure what was happening as our plates were not cleared and we were under the impression that we could order our desserts via the waitress. However, when none materialised, I again walked the long walk up to the bar to get our desserts, having to wait in a queue with other diners and those just drinking in the pub - again for me, inconvenient and detracting away from time spent as a family. For dessert, we chose the Strawberry Sundae and the kids had Sundaes from the kids menus. The ice-creams did take a while to come, but eventually they arrived and were enjoyed immensely. My only bug-bear during pudding, which is a real bug-bear of mine, was that a couple of our dinner plates were left on the dinner table when the puddings were served and remained there even when we had left to pay the bill at the bar.

I think that Brewers Fayre Watford is a pleasant enough restaurant for what it offers - chain owned, pre-cooked food for the masses, which lets face it, is what most restaurant chains of this genre offer. The thing that would deter me from going to this restaurant is the order at the bar procedure. I think it is completely un-family friendly, and also actually un-diner friendly. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to be served at my table, by one member of staff, where I can relax and enjoy my food, drink and company, pay the bill and tip the member of staff at the end, rather than having to keep leaving the table to order things. The restaurant is attached to a Premier Inn, and so I feel this is a negative for parents staying at the hotel with the kids on their own. I also think (and observed) that it can make the staff complacent, as they feel they don't have to be as attentive to customer's needs if the customers are mainly serving themselves. Additionally. there was also the age old problem of dirty sticky menus and dirty walls, which seemd to always get missed during cleaning. The toilets also had that water logged carpet, covered up in air-freshener smell. However these are only observations that I made having worked in the restaurant industry, which would probably not be picked up by the average guest. 

The good thing about Brewers Fayre is that it appeals to people of all ages, and there is a great variety of food, so most people are guaranteed to find something they will eat - vegetarians included! I think that the vegetarian menu here is a lot better than at other similar chain restaurants as there is a great choice of vegetarian food and they are flexible to accommodate different diets, although I would always welcome more vegetarian menu choice. 

The food at Brewers Fayre is good, served hot, in decent sized portions representing good value for money. On this visit, the service was very good most of the way through the meal, although it was lacking towards the end. We have been to this restaurant many times before and have had mixed experiences, so I think it depends what time of day you go and who's serving you.

I would choose to go back to this restaurant as their food is good and a meal for a family is reasonably priced. Further improvements I would like to see would perhaps be two sized plate options for children, and a smaller plate option for the older generation (as requested by my Nan!). A three course meal for four of us, including two sides cost £55 which I would say is extremely good value for an enjoyable night out!

Price: Very good value for money 10/10.

Ambience: Nice restaurant, was very quiet when we went in and has a nice feel to it. - 8/10

Service: We received very good service to start off with, but it got worse towards the end. 7/10

Food: - We all enjoyed our food, it tasted good and went down well. However, I prefer my food made from fresh rather than warmed in the microwave so for this reason I am awarding 7/10.

Overall: 32 Points = 8 out of 10. 

However, due to the rubbish ordering system, I am downgrading the Brewers Fayre to a 7/10 as I wasn't impressed with no available table service.

Disclosure : We were invited to review The Brewers Fayre in Watford and received a complimentary meal. All opinions are my own and I was not asked to write this review.

1000 Ways to Love Your Total - A Masterclass with Paul Merrett

The hottest day of the year probably isn't the best day to trek into London and navigate the underground, but that's what I found myself doing recently when I was invited to attend an event with Total Greek Yoghurt. They are promoting 1000 Ways to Love Total Yoghurt and so have teamed up with celebrity chef Paul Merritt to design some dishes which showcase the great role yoghurt plays in food. The day was held at Casa Castillo in London. I was excited to get the chance to cook in a professional kitchen full of fantastic equipment. I was also excited to meet some other lovely bloggers, and cook some delicious food. We formed ourselves into teams and I found myself in a team with Gourmet Mum, Miriam Nice, and Alice from an Essex wife. We had a starter, main course and a dessert to prepare in each team.

We began with the dessert - a Poppyseed and Orange Cake. We quickly divided up jobs and got busy weighing, measuring, mixing and stirring to prepare our cake. It almost felt a but like we were on Saturday Kitchen!, talking and finding out about each other as we cooked. I think that cooking a dish together is very uniting as you have to work together as a team to produce something, so it definitely brings people together. It was lovely to find out more about my fellow bloggers as we cooked.

After this we prepared our Starter - a vegetarian Ginger Beer Battered Broccoli Tempura served with Mango Yoghurt Dip for Skinny Latte and myself who were vegetarian. Paul was going prepare the tempura at the last minute and so myself and Alice got busy making the dip. I had never realised how simple a dip could be - yoghurt, mint sauce and mango chutney, mixed together = a fantastic, delicious fruity dip for tempura.

                                    

Finally we made our Mediterranean Tagine served with Yoghurt Dip. This is a fantastic Vegetarian dish. Paul had said the the extent of many vegetarian dishes in restaurants typically only stretched to risotto, but Paul really outdid himself with this dish as everyone - the meat eaters and the veggies were impressed with it. The Tagine contained red onion, peppers, butternut squash, and a wonderful spice mixed which had to be dry cooked. Then we added tomatoes, chickpeas (my fave) water, and some olives. By the end of  cooking, the Tagine looked absolutely amazing. 


Once the Tagine was cooked, we finished preparing our cake and Paul showed us how to make Cauliflower Couscous - which isn't actually cous cous - you cut off the heads of the cauliflower, whizz them int the food processor, wrap them in muslin & then steam them over some boiling water for around 10 minutes. Cauliflower Couscous makes a great addition to the tagine and it's full flavour and light taste are the perfect balance to the tagine.

When the food was cooked, our functional kitchen workspace was transformed into a dining room thanks to Paul's fabulous assistants. We were then able to enjoy the fruits of our labour as we all sat down for dinner together - a fabulous way to finish the afternoon.

It was lovey to find out to more ways to cook with yoghurt. As Paul said for him, yoghurt is something he uses in his cooking almost every day and I do too. It is always something we have in our fridge. The whole day was absolutely fantastic. I had a wonderful time and I learnt lots. It was great to be inside a working kitchen and I found out so much about food. I cant wait to attend an event like this again. Thanks to Total Greek Yoghurt for inviting me, and to Paul for showing us his yummy recipes. There are hundreds of ways to cook with Total Yoghurt on the Total website, including recipes and serving suggestions

Disclosure: I was invited to this event and received a goody bag of yoghurt for attending. All views are my own and I was not asked to write this post.

How to Make Mango Chutney

A Post today from my lovely friend Jo, a vegetarian living in Goa. She sent me her recipe for Mango Chutney and I just had to share it with you:

Mango Chutney Makes 3 jars Ingredients: 3 firm Mangos 120ml / 4 fluid oz Cider Vinegar 200g / 7oz light Muscavado Sugar 1 small red finger Chilli, split small piece of fresh root Ginger, peeled and finely chopped 1 Garlic Clove, finely chopped 5 Cardomom Pods, bruised 1 Bay Leaf pinch salt Method: Peel the mangos and cut the flesh into small chunks. Put into the cooking pot and add the cider. Turn the slow cooker up to high and cook for 2 hours, stirring half way through. Stir in the sugar, chilli, ginger, garlic, bruised cardamoms, bay leaf and salt into the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved. Cover and cook for 2 hours, then uncover and let the mixture cook for another hour, or until the chutney has reduced to a thick consistency and no excess liquid remains. Stir every 15 minutes for the last hour. Discard the bay leaf and chilli. Spoon into hot, sterilised jars and seal. Store for a week before eating and use within a year.

A Cookery Demonstration and Lunch at Yeo Valley Farm

Recently I blogged about my wonderful trip to Yeo Valley and tour of their Organic Gardens. Today, I am going to tell you about the yoghurt tasting, cookery demonstration and lunch we experienced within the tea rooms during our visit. After meeting some of the cows who actually provide the milk for Yeo Valley yoghurt, we had the opportunity to sample some of their deliciously creamy yoghurt. All of the flavours tasted so wonderful, but flavours which stood out for me were coconut, lemon curd and strawberry. Yeo Valley yoghurt comes in a variety of different pots including big sharing pots and smaller individual pots. They also have a lovely range of yoghurts for children. Additionally, we also sampled some Yeo Valley Rice Pudding. I can honestly say that it was the creamiest, most delicious rice pudding I have ever tasted. 

After our yoghurt tasting, Jaime, the resident Yeo Valley Chef was on hand for a cookery demonstration and to talk to us about cooking using yoghurt. There are lots of ways of cooking with yoghurt some of which I have featured previously on my blog, it is a very versatile ingredient. Jaime began by making a wonderful Sour Dough Bread, using whey - a yoghurt bi-product, as a replacement for the water in the bread. The sourdough was the best I have ever tasted. After this, Jaime showed us how to make ricotta cheese (recipe below) and he also showed us how to make a fabulous Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake which you can find on the Yeo Valley Website.  I loved the desert that Jamie made  - what a simple and effective way of presentation!. Using a jam jar is an inspired idea and makes a perfect pudding for the summer!

                               

After the cookery demonstration we were treated to an absolutely phenomenal lunch. It was easily the best lunch I have had in a long time. Jaime used seasonal produce from the garden to create a Potato Salad, Basil & Tomatoes drizzled in Olive Oil, a Ricotta and Spinach Tart and of course the Rhubarb & Strawberry Cheesecake in those pretty jam jars!

                                 

I am including a recipe for how to make your own ricotta, as given to us by Jaime, the Yeo Valley Chef!. Thanks to all at Yeo Valley once again for a fabulous day. 

What do you like cooking with yoghurt?

Homemade Ricotta Ingredients 1 litre Yeo Valley Whole Milk, (blue top) 500g/1 pot of Yeo Valley Natural Yogurt 2 tbsp Organic Cider Vinegar 2 tsp of good quality Salt Method 1. Place all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil, no need to stir. 2. Boil for 2 minutes, and remove from the heat. The yogurt and milk will have curdled, this is           what is meant to happen, so don’t panic. 3. Line a large sieve with a clean J cloth or tea towel and place over a large container to catch the Whey. 4. Pour all curdled mixture into the lined sieve and leave to cool down. 5. Once cool enough to handle the cloth, give it an encouraging squeeze, and then pop into the fridge for around 12 hours. 6. After 12 hours it will have ‘set’ and now your free to use the cheese however you wish, either in a tart, a sauce, or on a pizza. Just tear it apart or cut it. 7. If you wish to keep the Whey, keep it in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep up to 2 weeks. Use it as a replacement for water in bread making.