Sweet potato with mint, egg plant and 2 types of peas

Sweet potato with mint, egg plant and 2 types of peas

Flexitarier main meal, serves 4

200 grams of chick peas, soaked for 8 hours, or a small tin of chick peas, well rinsed off

2 egg plants

3 tablespoons of oil

600 grams of sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon of garam massala (Hindustan curry)

200 ml. of coconut milk

200 ml of chicken stock ( a stock cube can be used)

150 gram of deep freeze peas

1 tablespoon of finely chopped mint

Boil chick peas,adding salt to taste, in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes, or in an ordinary pan for an hour, until cooked.

Cut the egg plants in slices,  then in small strips, pat them dry, sprinkle them with salt, let them stand for a while. Heat the oil in a wok.Put the egg plants in and stir-fry them in the wok for 3-4 minutes.Add the sweet potatoes, chick peas and garam massala, and pour the coconut milk in the wok. Bring it all to the boil, put lid on wok and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.Add the frozen peas in the last 3 minutes, salt & freshly ground pepper to taste, decorate with the mint. Delicious with jasmine rice.

Have changed a couple of things Fiona:  You say ‘cook the peas in pressure cooker for 20 minutes until cooked, or in an ordinary pan for an hour until cooked, so I left the second ‘until cooked’   out.Then you say to cut the egg plants in strips etc.sprinkle with salt, then pay dry.I put the ‘pat dry’ before sprinkling salt over….because it wouldn’t make sense otherwise, you would pat the salt off….what do you think?

Dried tofu leaf with sweet, raw parsnip and mint

Dried tofu leaf with sweet, raw parsnip and mint

A vegan appetizer (canapé) or snack, makes 20 pieces

1 small egg plant cut in long, thin strips

4 tofu leaves (bean plant skins)

1 parsnip-peeled

2 tablespoons of walnut oil

A few fresh mint leaves-chopped

Very fine grater

Bring water to the boil in large pan, salt to taste and cook the egg plant strips in this for 2-3 minutes, drain them in a colander and press as much moisture out as possible.Cook the tofu leaves in the same water for 1-2 minutes until they are soft.Drain the tofu leaves,

Lay two leaves over each other(they often have holes in them) on a work surface, thus overlapping.

Grate the parsnip, using a very fine grater.Mix the raw parsnip with the drained egg plant, walnut oil, salt &  freshly ground pepper to taste.Divide half of the turnip filling in one line over the double tofu leaf and roll the whole thing up as a sushi.Do the same with the rest of the tofu leaves and parsnip filling. Cut each tofu roll in 10 pieces. Nice with a good sherry.

Have changes a few things.You didn’t mention aubergine in the title, only in the recipe ingredients.

Then you say ” druk zoveel vocht uit” , I added as much moisture as possible.  (aubergines).Not sure if you want to change this yourself?

A vegan appetizer (canapé) or snack, makes 20 pieces

1 small egg plant cut in long, thin strips

4 tofu leaves (bean plant skins)

1 parsnip-peeled

2 tablespoons of walnut oil

A few fresh mint leaves-chopped

Very fine grater

Bring water to the boil in large pan, salt to taste and cook the egg plant strips in this for 2-3 minutes, drain them in a colander and press as much moisture out as possible.Cook the tofu leaves in the same water for 1-2 minutes until they are soft.Drain the tofu leaves,

Lay two leaves over each other(they often have holes in them) on a work surface, thus overlapping.

Grate the parsnip, using a very fine grater.Mix the raw parsnip with the drained egg plant, walnut oil, salt &  freshly ground pepper to taste.Divide half of the turnip filling in one line over the double tofu leaf and roll the whole thing up as a sushi.Do the same with the rest of the tofu leaves and parsnip filling. Cut each tofu roll in 10 pieces. Nice with a good sherry.

Sweet goat’s cheese rolls with dille & seaweed

Sweet goat’s cheese rolls with dille & seaweed.

Vegetarian snack, makes roughly 20 pieces

5 large spring roll sheets or 20 wonton sheets

150 gram soft sweet goat’s cheese-crumbled

3 sheets of nori (seaweed for shushi) cut in thin strips

Big bunch of dille, finely chopped

4 tablespoons of sunflower oil

1 Egg

Cut spring roll sheets in 4, keep them under a cloth or plastic during preparation(process?), as they dry out quickly.

(you don’t mention separating the egg white)

Save some egg white to paste the rolls shut(?)

Mix rest of egg with cheese, the dille and 2/3 of the nori & freshly ground pepper to taste.

Lay a dough sheet on work top, spread a strip of cheese mixture on front of of sheet and roll this over once.(????)Fold sides of roll inwards (???) & roll the whole sheet up.Paste edge with egg white to close.Do the same with all the sheets, cheese mix & nori.

Heat oil in a frying pan & fry the rolls on a low heat for 12-15 minutes until golden brown, turning them over half way until both sides are cooked & crispy.The rolls can be serves hot or cold.

Pumpkin jam

Pumpkin jam
For 4 pots or roughly 350 ml.

400 gram Pumpkin, without seeds, washed peel may be left on.

400 gram Sugar

1/4  Red pepper, without seeds, chopped fine

100 gram Dried dates, sliced

50 gram peeled, unsalted pistachio nuts

4 empty jam jars

Boil the empty jam jars in plenty of water, drain and place them on a clean tea towel.

Use a coarse grater to grate the pumpkin mixture then add the sugar, red pepper and a knifepoint of salt

Let the pumpkin mixture stand for 30 to 60 minutes. Bring to the mixture, including the liquid and dates to the boil and cook for a further 5-6 minutes.Scoop the pistachio nuts through the mixture and put everything into the jam jars, making sure the lids are firmly screwed on, then turn pots upside down for several mimutes, so that the boiling pumpkin liquid  kills off any eventual bacteria on the lids. Store unopened pots in fridge for 2-3 months.After opening,eat within one day. Delicious on bread,or with creamy cheese or as a chutney.

Hare pie with Jerusalem artichokes and green cardamom

Hare pie with Jerusalem artichokes and green cardamom

Main course, serves 4

1 bottle of full-bodied red wine

500 gram hare (from poulterer), cut in 1 cm. pieces

2 cardamom seeds-flattened

250 gram flour & extra to dust work top

200 & 25 gram cold butter,cut in tiny pieces

1 egg, divided

1 large onion-chopped

750 gram Jerusalem artichokes (also called topinambour or earth apples), peeled and cut in pieces

Oven dish & greased rolling pin

Marinate to meat for 24 hours in wine & cardamom (best in tea sieve, easy to remove later)

Using cold hands. Quickly knead the flour, 200 gram butter, knife point of salt, egg white & one tablespoon of cold water, into a firm dough.Put it in plastic and leave to rest in a fridge for at least half an hour. Heat rest of butter in a large frying pan. Take the meat out of the wine and dab it dry and fry on all sides. Add the onion and fry on a low heat, stirring now and then, until golden brown.Add the Jerusalem artichokes & wine and leave t simmer for half an hour, then add salt & freshly ground pepper to taste. Preheat oven at 200 C.Take meat out of the sauce and allow the wine to boil down to a syrupy consistency, stirring well now and then. Dust work top with flour, roll the dough out on to it, in the shape of the oven dish. Put meat & vegetables in dish. Using the rolling pin, roll the dough up and carefully place it on  top of the oven dish-it doesn’t matter if it breaks or tears-gently press the dough down on edges of dish. Knead the torn or broken pieces together again, and, if you want to, decorate top of pie with remaining strips of dough. Cut a cross in top of pie and pour the syrupy wine liquid through it. Brush the top of pie with the egg yolk and bake in the middle of oven for 30-45 minutes until golden brown. Delicious with Brussel sprouts.

Make sure there are no shot pellets in the meat !

Savoy cabbage filled with carrots and mushrooms

Main course, serves 4-6

2-3 litres of chicken stock

1 savoy cabbage

2 onions, chopped

3 tablespoons of oil

150 grams of mushrooms, sliced

200 grams of carrots, grated

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

250 grams of cooked rice

1 egg

Kitchen string, oven dish, aluminium foil

Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a large pan, put cabbage in and cover this with a large plate and a weight on top of this, to make sure the cabbage is completely covered, leave to cook for 15 minutes on a low heat.Take cabbage out of stock and leave to cool for a while. Fry the onion on a low heat until golden brown, then add mushrooms & carrots and fry for another 5 minutes. Stir the tomato puree in, spoon the rice through the mixture, add salt, freshly ground pepper and cinnamon to taste and fry for a further few minutes, stir now and then and leave to cool for a while.Fold the cabbage leaves open, remove the inner ones with a knife. Slice half of these leaves finely (the rest aren’t used in this recipe) and stir them, together with the egg through the rice mixture.Fill outside cabbage leaves with the rice mixture, fold the leaves around it tightly and tie the whole thing up with kitchen string. Place cabbage in the oven dish, pour chicken stock over it and cover with aluminium foil. Heat cabage for 40-50 minutes at 180 C in a preheated oven. Cut cabbage in 4-6 pieces and pour some stock over them.Delicious with finely grated beetroot and roasted hazelnuts.