Yesh’s Bean Stew & Isra’s Buddhist Pie

Bean stew is such a ubiquitous veggie option, I think it gets rather overlooked – and that’s a very sad thing, because a good bean stew is warming, nutritious, and intensely flavoursome. But we all know how to make it, right? Take tins of beans (butter beans, pinto beans, kidney beans – a good mix of your favourite) and mingle with tinned tomatoes, chilli, fried onions … maybe a bit of stock if it needs more moisture. Add your choice of spices, some salt and pepper, a little coffee, some star anise … whatever tickles you.

And then you stick it on the stove and heat it up. Boom. A meal to fall on like a ravenous wolf – especially when the night is cold and Shaun the Sheep is playing on the DVD player.

Never watched Shaun the Sheep? People, you gotta.

You just gotta.

OK, so I’m making the bean stew sound simple, and it is – but there’s an art to a truly delicious bean stew, and my theory is that nothing is going to teach you that art but trial and error. I’ve followed a hundred recipes, and some have been good, others bad, others … well. The dog enjoyed it. But Yesh is unchallenged Queen of the Bean, and I bow to her. Unfortunately, I didn’t watch her cooking, so I don’t actually know what she did to make it so divine – but it was rich in tomato and garlic, wonderfully piquant (I think Cayenne Pepper played a large part in this), and so satisfying it gave you that inside-outside warm feeling of pure delight.

Not my photo - it's from Posie's Place. Click to link.

But, the thing is, when you open all those cans of beans, you’re faced with a bit of a dilemma. Do you use some of all of them and decant the remainder into several different storage tubs? Do you mix all the remaining beans together into one large tub? Or do you do the sensible thing and chuck them all into the stew, making the most humungous amount that no __(insert correct number of people in household)__  people could eat in one sitting?

If, like Yesh, you go for the Humungous Stew option, you’re then faced with The Dreaded Leftovers!! Do you want to eat the same meal twice in a row? Or even twice in one week? Or, if you’re a bit more cavalier in your attitude to bacteria, twice in two weeks?

Oh, I know, it’s not exactly much of a dilemma, is it? You can freeze it, after all. Stick it in the ol’ freezer, forget about it, and unearth it at the time of the Environmental Apocalypse. It’ll be a lovely surprise.

Or you can make it into something new! Hurrah. That. of course, is what I did.

When I were an eater o’ meat, like, I used to love a good Shepherd’s Pie. It’s one of those deceptively simple meals, with which you can actually spend blissful, creative hours experimenting. Cook the mince with red wine and cinnamon? A touch of mace, perchance? Or go for a darker, earthier taste with Worcester Sauce, mushrooms, and some finely chopped anchovies? Ah, the hours of deliberation …

BUT! All is not lost in my little veggie gluten free world. Oh no. For there are always lentils!

And so the Buddhist Pie was born.

 

Ingredients

1. 250g dry green lentils
2. 500ml water/gluten free veg. stock
3. 2 tsp cumin
4. Bowl of rich, spicy, leftover bean stew
5. 1 small onion (unless there are lots of onions already in your bean stew)
6. Handful of mushrooms
7. 1 small carrot
8. 3 large potatoes
9. 1 tsp mustard
10. Glug of milk (soya or other)
11. 15g butter
12. Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

Method:

Yes. This one's mine. And no - not shown in its best light!

1. Put the lentils in a pot and cover with water/stock
2. Add 1tsp cumin to the water, and boil until soft (30 mins?)
3. Dice and fry carrot, onions & mushrooms in the other tsp cumin
4. When the lentils are soft (to your taste), combine with leftover bean stew and everything else
5. Bring to a simmer, adjusting spices & seasoning as you see fit
6. Scrub & chop spuds, and boil – skins on, if the spuds are nice enough
7. Put the beany, lentilly mix into an oven dish
8. Mash the spuds with butter, milk, salt, pepper, and mustard
9. Spoon the mash onto the lentilly, beany mix
10. Grate a fine dusting of parmesan on top
11. Bake in the oven until hot through
12. Stuff into your face

 

We served it with some steamed spinach. And yes, we now have an enoooooormous amount of leftover Buddhist Pie. But, frankly, I have no issue with eating it twice in one week. Or twice in one day. Or saving it for the Environmental Apocalypse. Whatever you think is best.

Hope you enjoy!

 

 

Potato Hashcakes

So here’s an everyday recipe for a hearty bout of comfort food; it’s also a fantastic way of using up leftovers, which is what I’ll bang on about while wearing my Love Food Hate Waste hat. Have you ever really paid attention to the amount of food you waste? From potato peelings to that last mouthful you can’t manage … it all piles up. And it all goes to landfill and rots. So, if you end up with a bunch of leftover potatoes (maybe ones that are softening a bit and growing a few eyes in the cupboard), and some veg – this is a fantastic, cosy, warming meal full of flavour and comfort.

Ingredients:

1. 500g (?) potatoes, preferably skin-on. I dunno quantity, actually. I had one baking potato and about 6 new potatoes in the cupboard, so I used them.
2. 1 tsp mustard
3. Pinch of turmeric
4. Pinch of cumin
5. Salt & pepper
6. 1 leek, chopped fine (can use cabbage, sprouts, anything of that ilk)
7. 6-8 black olives
8. 1tsp them there capers again!

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes with the turmeric. It gives them a lovely colour and a slightly smokey flavour.

1. Fry the leeks and other chosen veg with the cumin until soft, then add chopped black olives and capers
2. Mash the spuds with the mustard, and stir in the mixed veg
3. Mould the spuds into patties. You might want to wait until they’re cool, yeah?
4. In a hot, oiled frying-pan, fry the potatoes until they’re nicely browned and crispy on the top
5. Serve and chomp.

 

We ate ours with roasted butternut squash, roasted tomatoes, and salad. They were really rather pleasant.

 

Parmesan Scones of Joy

 

So. Baking has never been my bag, really. I don’t like my fingers getting all glooped up with sticky flour. I was never one of those kids who loved making mud pies, or digging around in the dirt with my fingers. It’s just a hands thing – I love getting muddy and grubby in general, but there’s just something about sticky hands that does my nut in. So baking is a rare occurrence for me.

This, though, is worth every minute of stickiness – finding a light, almost fluffy recipe for cheese scones for which any scone-starved coeliac would choke their grandmother.

First off, the flour mix you need is white rice flour, tapioca flour, and potato flour, in the ratio of 7 -3 – 1. (So, to make 1kg, it’s 700g rice flour, 300g tapioca flour, and 100g potato flour).Of course, you can also use gluten free self-raising flour, and if you do that, you don’t need to add Xantham gum.

Secondly, I imagine we’re all in the same boat when it comes to the leftover oil in the bottom of sun dried tomato jars, pimento jars, fancy olive jars etc etc. Don’t throw it away, for the love of God! It’s fantastic to cook with, infusing dishes with the flavour of whatever the oil has held. For these scones, I used the oil in the bottom of a jar of stuffed pimentos, which gave them just a tiny edge of spiciness. Mmmmm.

Now, on to the magic:

Ingredients:

1. 300g flour mix
2. Pinch salt
3. 2 medium eggs, beaten
4. 2 tsps gluten free baking powder (mine was out of date in 2007, but did no harm)
5. 2 tsps Xantham gum
6. 75g butter, or margarine, cut into small cubes
7. 125ml milk, roughly (I use soya milk)
8. 50g parmesan cheese, finely grated
9. Sun dried tomato oil/pimento oil/olive oil to grease baking tray

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200˚C
2. Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt, baking powder, Xantham gum and butter. Rub the mix between your fingers until you get a consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Take pauses if it feels like your thumbs are going to fall off.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour-mound. Pour in the eggs, cheese, and most of the milk. You might not need all of it – you might need more, so be cautious to start.
4. Pull the flour gradually into the mix, stirring until you get a lovely doughy mess. If it’s too dry, add a little more milk (d’oh).
5. Once you have the dough to your required consistency, grease your hands with your chosen oil and begin shaping small handfuls into ovals. If you’re a total glutton for punishment, you can try dusting a work surface with cornflour and rolling it. I wouldn’t bother, if I were you. It’s sticky, frustrating, and I struggle to see the point. If you wanna make the scones all pretty, then you can press the moulded balls of flour into your chosen cutter and shape it that way. Me? I’m a bit more rustic.
6. Oil the baking tray with a little more of your chosen oil, and place the dough-scones on it.
7. Bake in the oven for roughly 10 minutes, or – y’know – for as long as it takes.
8. Eat them. Eat them all.

 

So there you have it. Scones of joy. These really were the best gluten free scones I’ve ever made. We had them with some simple butternut squash soup, salad, and homemade red cabbage coleslaw. (Recipe for red cabbage coleslaw: chop some red cabbage. Put it in a bowl with some sultanas and anything else you fancy, like grated carrot. Add a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a dash of lemon juice, pepper, and some grated nutmeg. Mix through. Bob’s yer aunt.)

YUM.

 

Spicy Banana Soup!

Ok, so maybe this sounds a bit weird to you? Or maybe you’re aware of the long and great tradition of bananas in curry, and how the sweetness of the fruit so enhances and tempers the wonderful – but sometimes harsh – curry spice flavours. Well, in this case, bananas form the central part of this creamy soup – and it’s blimmin’ delicious, I tells thee. Check-it-aaaaaaht, brothers and sisters, and be converted.

Ingredients:

 

1. 1 tbsp olive oil
2. 2 cloves garlic
3. 2 large bananas, sliced
4. 2 chopped spring onions
5. 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
6. 2 Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
7. 400ml coconut milk
8. 500ml vegetable stock
9. 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
10. 1 tbsp curry powder (I used Madras)
11. 1 tsp lime pickle
12. 1/2 tsp sugar
13. Grated zest of 1 lime and 1 lemon
14. salt&pepper to taste
15. Fresh coriander

 

Method:

1. Thinly slice the garlic, and fry with the spring onions in oil until browned.
2. Add curry powder, chopped celery, sprouts and bananas to the pot and stir gently until everything is well coated.
3. Add veg stock, and salt & pepper to taste.
4. Add red chilli, and stir to ensure all the flavours are combined.
5. Simmer the soup until the veg have softened.
6. Add coconut milk, the zest of the lemon and lime, and the lime pickle.
7. Add sugar, if needed.
8. Serve either as it is, or blend to your preferred texture, and with a sprinkling of coriander leaves.

 

I would add a note of caution: because chillis vary so much in strength, it’s a good idea to taste the soup before adding lime pickle. The pickle adds depth of flavour, but also adds to the heat – so if you’re not up for a bit of a bite, leave the lime pickle out, or add very sparingly.

This recipe, in a simpler form, comes courtesy of a little £1 booklet I picked up in Glasgow, called Vegetarian Soup Kitchen Recipes, and was printed by Kagyu Samye Dzong Glasgow. It’s packed full of great soups, but I think this recipe in particular is truly delicious – a view shared by my partner who always has second helpings, mostly drinks the soup straight from the bowl for the sheer glee of it, and whose face lights up whenever I suggest making it.

You can also add other veg, of course. I think next time I’m going to add a red pepper. Potato, too, might go very well – as would little Thai aubergines (but fat chance trying to get them out in the wilds of Argyll!) or little bitter pea aubergines.

Experiment! Amend! Enjoy!

Quinoa Couscous

Gotta tell ya, cooking quinoa ain’t my favourite bag o’ tricks. They tell you on the packet it’ll only take 10 minutes. They lie. They tell you on the packet to use 3 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa. And they lie. They fail to tell you it might go mushy, they fail to tell you it may stick to the bottom of the pan. They fail to tell you it might, in fact, taste like little more than wallpaper paste – only without that full, soapy flavour. Mmm … wallpaper paste …

Anyhoo, yesterday I answered a challenge to cook for my partner’s step-father, who is a mean cook himself, but very meat-centric. He’s also got an ulcer, so turns out making something incredibly spicy ain’t a good idea. (Note to self: killing partner’s step-father = setback in inter-familial relationship). So I’m gunna gloss over that and move on to the one thing that worked out ok: the fruity quinoa couscous I made. Ok, I know calling it Quinoa Couscous is like calling a recipe Roast Lamb Beef, but you get what I mean.

Ingredients

1. 1/2 small mug of quinoa
2. 1 tbsp olive oil
3. Zest 1 lemon
4. 1 mug elderflower & apple juice
5. Fresh squeezed juice 1 orange
6. Tablespoon sultanas
7. Approx. 2 mugs water, or whatever you need to cook the bastarding stuff til it’s tender
8. Pinch cumin
9. Roasted almond flakes
10. Salt & peppper

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in frying pan.
2. Add quinoa and lemon zest. Heat until the quinoa is hot and the smell of lemons is strong.
3. Add the elderflower & apple juice, orange juice & sultanas. Cook until the liquid is absorbed.
4. Keep adding water until the quinoa is soft and all liquid absorbed into the grain. This might well take longer than you think.
5. When the quinoa is ready, add a pinch of cumin, roasted almond flakes, and season to taste. Allow to cool.
6. Serve cold, as an accompaniment to something that will kill your step-father-in-law.

N.B – you can also add dried apricots to this dish, but a) I think dried apricots are the Devil’s food, and b) I thought it was already sweet and fruity enough. If you don’t agree with point a, I would suggest adding the apricots when you add the sultanas, so they become soft and juicy in the liquid. I’d also suggest adding something to curb the sweetness a bit. More lemon, perhaps. Anyway, I was pleased with this side dish, and would heartily recommend trying it as a lunch-time accompaniment – or even a lunch on its own. You could add plenty of other stuff to it to bulk it out: courgettes, cashews instead of almonds, peppers, parsley or – if you’re a meat eater – chunks of leftover Sunday roast lamb. Whatever you like, really.

Isra’s Butter Bean Begilla

Begilla is a Maltese sort-of hummus/paté, made with broad beans. I love it, but butter beans are a particular favourite of mine – so I thought I’d make a butter bean version. And I’m right pleased with it. I highly recommend eating it on corn crackers, or gluten free pitta bread, as part of a mezze platter. It’s also just ridiculously easy. So here we go:

Ingredients:

1. 1 tin butter beans
2. 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1tsp dried)
3. 2 cloves garlic
4. Salt & pepper
5. Olive oil
6. Small handful black olives
7. Spoonful capers
8. Twist of lemon juice
9. Pinch of paprika

 

Method:

1. Heat a glug of oil in a frying pan and crush the garlic into it, with some salt and pepper. Once the garlic has softened, add the thyme.
2. Rinse the butter beans under the tap and, once drained, add them to the garlic and herbs. Fry until the butter beans are a little softened, and coated with the juicy juicy flavours. (You can add other spices, if you wanna, obviously. A bit of cumin is nice). Take off the heat.
3. Mash the butter beans in a bowl until you can’t be bothered to mash them any more. It’s up to you how smooth you want it.
4. Chop the black olives and capers, add to the butter beans. Add seasoning, to your taste. Mix through. Add a good glug of olive oil, until the mix is moist but not overly wet.
5. With a twist of lemon and a sprinkle of paprika, you’re done.

Isra’s Bestest Bean Burgers

Have you ever met a kidney bean that wasn’t in a chilli, or bolognese, or summink? If you have, then you’ve probably reached the same conclusion I have:

They taste really nice!!

So why not make a quick, easy, everyday meal out of them little curvy delights? Here’s how:

Ingredients

1. Tin of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2. Approx. 50g gluten free breadcrumbs (or as much as is needed). I think these are the best I’ve come across so far:
3. 1 small onion, diced
4. 2 tomatoes, diced
5. Tablespoon of capers
6. 1+ tsp cumin
7. 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
8. Salt and pepper
9. Half an egg, beaten
10. Sprinkling of rice flour
11. Olive oil

Method

1. Fry the diced onions in olive oil, until soft.
2. Drain and rinse the kidney beans, then mash them roughly in a bowl. Don’t make them too smooth. The texture is better with some lumpiness to it!
3. Add the onion, capers, diced tomato, seasoning and spices, and mix together
4. Add the egg, and the breadcrumbs, until the mixture binds without being too wet. (Note: you can flavour the breadcrumbs with herbs and spices of your choice, or parmesan cheese)
5. Mould the kidney bean mixture into burger-shaped patties. If necessary, sprinkle a little rice flour on the surface to further bind.
6. Heat oil in the pan you used for the onions. When hot, add each burger and fry until crispy on the outside and heated through.
7. Serve in a gluten free roll or pitta bread, with salad, mayonnaise, and – if you like – a slice of cheese. Faaabulous!