I don’t own a single pair of fancy pants. My pants are plain. I don’t really pay much attention to garnishes, I don’t know how to foam or make tiny balls out of food and I don’t really deconstruct things. So I had no idea what to do about this post until this morning when I fancied a s’more. I took the component parts; biscuit, marshmallow, chocolate, and put it back together into a chocolate bark. Well almost. I couldn’t find any vegan digestives within walking distance so I substituted with rich tea. Not quite the same but works in a pinch.
S’more Bark
200g Vegan Milk Chocolate
Three digestives/rich tea biscuits slightly crushed
A handful of vegan mini-marshmallow
1. Line a tray with baking parchment.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
3. Spread the melted chocolate onto the baking parchment.
4. Sprinkle on the marshmallows and biscuits.
5. Pat the toppings down a little and leave the chocolate to solidify.
I sometimes see these recipes shared on Facebook that have Just Three Ingredients and I think would a couple more ingredients really make it that much more complicated? I think of Indian curries with lists of spices but it’s not that much harder to make a plain tomato sauce. I don’t believe in forcing simplicity but some things are naturally simple and this pasta dish is one.
Just to prove that I could I bought all the ingredients at Tesco metro. So on a busy night I could pop out, buy the ingredients and cook the dish in about an hour. Obviously your mileage from a Tesco metro may vary.
Pasta with Broccoli and Garlic Breadcrumbs
200g (ish) Pasta
One pack of tenderstem broccoli (stems can be eaten, but obviously Dirk ate mine)
3 tablespoon olive oil
One clove of garlic, crushed
One slice of bread
1. Pop the bread into a blender or food processor and chop it down into rough breadcrumbs.
2. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, when it has three minutes to go toss in the broccoli to cook.
3. Meanwhile heat the oil in a large frying pan and when it’s hot fry the garlic for 30 seconds.
4. Add the breadcrumbs to the pan, tossing them to toast eavenly.
5. When the pasta and broccoli is finished drain it off and toss with the garlic breadcrumbs.
I have a large and varied spice collection but there are two that stand out for me. I like to think of them as siblings, or best mates. They appear together around the globe: from India, across the Middle East, to the Americas. It’s coriander and cumin.
Labels Lie
Just like I love all sorts of spices I love all sorts of food cooked with them. I’ve already paired these together chilli this mofo. It’s time to use it on potatoes. The following recipy serves 2.
Crispy Oven Baked Chips
1 large baking potato
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 salt, smoked if you have it
1 tablespoon nutral oil, such as vegetable
Pre heat the oven to 200°c
Slice the chips, try not to leave many thicker than 1.5cm. As for skins you can leave them on or off, your choice.
Place the spices in a large bowl, place the chips on top and drizzle the oil on. Shake everything around until fully coated.
Bake in the oven for 45 mins. Flip the chips over half way through.
This week vegan mofo is focusing on what happens behind the scenes in our kitchen. Our first prompt is about gadgets. This presents me with a problem: I have never met a gadget that I didn’t want to buy. I have the instant pot and the vitamix and I love them both. But better people than me have written about them, written books even. So I’m going back to basics. I’m going to tell you about the one appliance that no self respecting English woman would be without. Meet my electric kettle.
Fancy Pants Kettle
Like any kettle our kettle boils water but it also has a few special features. You see we are serious about our tea. Not serious like we’ll only drink one brand of tea bags. Serious like we’ll only drink loose leaf. And it needs to be brewed right. That means the water has to be the correct temperature. This is very important. If you put boiling water on your tea you’ll just get a cup of tannin which is useful for dyeing but awful for drinking. You can set our kettle to heat water to different temperatures depending on what type of tea you are drinking. I love it.
Various Tea Pots
The other thing we use our kettle for is making hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is best, of course, when you heat your milk on the hob before adding you chocolatey stuff. Sometimes, though, you are on holiday. Or guide camp. Or you’re up in the middle of the night coughing your guts up. Then you need instant. As I’ve never seen a vegan instant hot chocolate I’ve started to make a mix up myself. It has coconut milk powder, which isn’t the most neutral taste but it does go well with chocolate.
instant chocolate
Instant Hot Chocolate Mix
1 part caster sugar
2 parts hot chocolate powder
3 parts coconut milk powder
Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight jar.
When ready to make you hot chocolate put the kettle on to boil, while it’s warming up place 2 tablespoons of in a mug and cover with an equal amount of water. Whisk together to make a slack. Carry on whisking as you pour the boiled water into the cup.
Coastal Vegans 