Gastronomic Digest

Something to warm the cockles of ye heart… and it doesn’t come from a box loaded with sodium, preservatives and additives.

Ingredients – Stew

1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 potatoes, diced
2 carrots, sliced
1 zucchini, diced
1 cup of peas
1 cup of stock (chicken flavour or vegetable)
1 tablespoon of curry power
Any other vegetable that tickles your fancy.

If you want to make a meat version, usually chicken or beef is used in a Japanese curry.

Ingredients – Curry sauce (roux)

4 tablespoons of butter or margarine
1/4 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
Cup of boiling water
2 tablespoons curry powder

Method – Stew

1. Saute onion until golden (approximately 30 minutes)
2. Add garlic and ginger and fry gently for 2 – 3 minutes
3. Add cup of stock, curry powder, potatoes and carrots.  Bring to the boil and then simmer.
4. About 5 minutes before the potatoes and carrots are tender, add in the zucchini and carrot.

Method – Curry sauce (roux)

1. Melt the butter or margarine.
2. Add flour and curry powder over a low heat and whisk until it comes together in a crumbly mixture.
3.Add tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce.
4. The roux should be quite crumbly at this stage.  The roux should be added to the stew when it is a minute or two away from being ready to serve.  Before adding the roux, whisk in approximately 1 – 2 cups of boiling water (adding the water slowly).  The roux will become lovely and thick and saucy.

Method – Curry

1. Add the sauce to the curry and allow it to blend for a couple of minutes.
2. Serve with rice.

{ 0 comments }

A beautiful and decadent way to start any day.

An added bonus is that all of these recipes can be made the night before and reheated in the morning, if a truly lazy morning is required.

The recipes for the crepes came from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch.

Crepes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Oat milk (or your favourite dairy or nondairy milk)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or agave nectur
1 cup of plain flour
1 tablespoon cornflour (or tapioca flour or arrowroot)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray or oil

Method

1. Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender. Blend for about 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the blender, until everything is smooth. The batter will be very thin.

2. Refrigerate batter for about an hour.

3. Preheat a crepe pan, or large non-stick frypan over medium heat. The pan is ready when a few drops of water flicked on to it sizzle.

4. Lightly spray the pan with oil.

5. Ladle about 1/4 to a 1/3 cup of batter in the centre of the pan. Use measuring cups so that you get consistency.

6. Lift the pan off the burner and tilt in a circular motion so that the batter spreads in a thin layer across the bottom.

7. Cook until the top of the crepe is dry, the centre is bubbling and the edges are lightly browned and crinkly and are pulling away from the sides of the pan. This step is important if you don’t want to tear your crepe. Patience here is key.

8. Gently run a spatula under the crepe to loosen, then carefully flip and cook on the other side for 30 seconds.

9. Slide the crepe onto a dinner plate. Repeat.

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients

Cup of frozen raspberries

2 tablespoons caster sugar

Method

Place raspberries and caster sugar into a small saucepan and gently heat until it becomes saucy!

Chocolate sauce

Ingredients

50 grams 85% dark chocolate (or more if you want more!)

Oat milk (or whatever milk takes your fancy)

Method

Melt chocolate slowly in a small saucepan and add small amounts of milk until you hit saucey consistency.

{ 0 comments }