The Last of Summer!

It has suddenly hit me that my daughter (Winnie) is going to be 4 at the end of October and that October isn‘t actually that far away now. Winnie has been organising her birthday party for so long now that it started to feel like it was never going to happen but now I see that it’s my turn to start thinking of ways to make her creative ideas come to life.

Winn decided right at the start that her party would be a Doctor Who and fairy themed party and gave me a clear design of what the cake should look like along with a couple of other things she thinks will happen when The Doctor meets the fairies (mainly involving flowered hats and cheeky fairy tricks). I’m currently brain storming for food and decorating ideas so if any of you have any ideas I’d be happy to hear them!!

I decided to put up the recipe for the raw chocolate tart in this post as although the weather is being unpredictable it does seem clear that we are very much coming to the end of our beautiful summer days and so I thought it was a good time to get that one last hit of summer with this indulgent yet fresh and super healthy tart!

I have always adored the combination of chocolate and strawberries and it’s always something I indulged in when spending long hours reading Harry Potter and it is the spark of this memory that inspired me to create the following recipe.

The chocolate filling is something I’d been using for a while and keeping in the fridge to use either as a sandwich spread, fruit dip or just a yummy chocolate pudding and I really like how this recipe just takes it that bit further.

*recipe note* Make sure your avocados are fully ripe if not you won’t get that really smooth and glossy filling that we’re looking for. Cost wise this is a pricy tart but to make it a little easier on the purse you can either half the recipe and make some mini tarts or replace 2 avocados with bananas which will obviously change the flavour but it will still be lovely. This tart is also lovely topped with fresh banana (especially if adding them to the filling also) or raspberry, do watch out if you use bananas though as they will brown over time.

Raw Chocolate and Strawberry Tart

I decided not to clear the table for this picture - Fear The Flesh not the tart!!!

Equipment:

Blender or food processor, tart base, mixing bowl, spoon, knife, chopping board, scales, fork for mixing

For the butter-free almond base:

Ingredients:

12oz raw almonds

2oz desiccated coconut

3oz dates

4tbsp hot water

Instructions:

1/ Pulse the almonds in a blender until they are a course crumb with only a few larger chunks remaining (no larger than ¼ of an almond) and transfer to a large mixing bowl. I only have a cheap blender and found I got the best results if I blended the almonds ¼ cup at a time.

2/ Chop the dates then blend them with the water until as smooth as you can get them.

3/ Mix the coconut in with the almonds then stir in the date puree with a large fork until the mixture is clumping together slightly.

4/ Tip the mixture into the tart dish and firmly push into the base and sides until you have a firm tart case that covers the whole of the tart dish.

For the filling:

Ingredients:

4 ripe avocados (preferably haas, see recipe note above)

8 fl oz agave syrup

2 fl oz maple syrup

3 oz cocoa or cacao powder (if using cacao also add 2 tbsp cocoa butter)

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp rose extract

14oz (1 punnet) of fresh strawberries

Instructions:

1/ Blend the avocados until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor it’s best to use a stick blender as the mixture is too thick for a blender to process.

2/Add all the remaining ingredients (bar the strawberries and cocoa butter if using) and blend until smooth and glossy.

3/ If using the cocoa butter put it in a small bowl then place the small bowl in a larger bowl of hot water until the cocoa butter is in its liquid state then blend in with the rest of the ingredients.

4/ Spread mixture evenly into your prepared tart cases and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours (preferably over night).

5/ Top with fresh sliced strawberries and enjoy.

The main problem getting these pictures was trying to stop my little ones from stealing the food !

lalala - nothing to see here.....

Goodbye Mister Potter

This is a long post but there is a lovely recipe at bottom so feel free to skip to the end if you’re short on time!

I have a feeling that my hopes to keep a fortnightly blog are much like my hopes to keep a tidy house - I mean well but it’s not something that I’m naturally good at!! However, as with the tidy house, it is something I will learn with and get better as time goes on; it may not be perfect for a good while but I promise it will certainly reach an acceptable level.

Over these past….hummmm…let us not dwell on the actual amount of time but it is safe to say I have been a busy bunny. For those of you who follow Pro-Wrestling: EVE (the all female pro-wrestling company I run with my other half: Pro-Wrestling:EVE) you’ll know that we’ve been dealing with venue changes and all sorts of FABULOUS things like that! I won’t go into more details as I may start weeping and I’ve heard the tears of the exasperated are really bad for laptops. The past few weeks have been hard work and stressful but belief in the company keeps me going. I love that we’re able to showcase strong female role models along with a damn good show. Everyone seems to be talking about roller derby at the moment and it makes me laugh, I know those women are tough but they‘ve got anything on pro wrestlers (if you have doubts just stick on Beyond The Mat and you‘ll get what I mean). For those who want to see more you can check out the 10 roster members confirmed for the upcoming shows on October 8 & 9 that will now be held at Gym Combat, Nottingham here (WARNING: There is a 3.9% chance that Alpha Female will jump through the screen and eat you): EVE roster video.

Along with wrestling work I have been managing to get quite a lot of cooking done and have some laid back time too, among other things I’ve:

Had an indoor teddy bears picnic with the kids (the rain just wouldn’t stop!!)

Watched quite a lot of this (10 geek points for naming the correct episode)

Fled from Sudbury and the exploding car outside my house!! I have no picture of this as my country brain was too alarmed to remember such technological devices.

Celebrated my sisters wedding. This my favourite picture from the wedding as it’s so natural, such a genuine smile from my big sis and I love how emotional my new brother-in-law is looking.

Fed my children LOTS of chocolate

Then there is the most heart breaking thing and that was saying goodbye to Harry Potter. I know, I know - Harry Potter a bit of a marmite of the geek world. I’ve never actually been that big of a fan of the films but I appreciated them, I loved the designs, music and general feel of the movie if not what they decided to cut.

The books, however, have been a constant for me. I started reading them when they first came out, I was 11 years old and socially awkward but I was whisked away into this magical world and it’s been there for me ever since. Harry Potter was there was I took my GCSE’s, when I had my heart broken, when I battled CFS/ME (I suffered very badly from the age of 16 and up until recently spent the large majority of my time bed bound not even able to feed myself). When my friends, fed up of me always being ill and not much fun were not there Harry Potter was . I made new friends and met new people through a shared love of Harry Potter and it made me brave the geek world where I now feel so comfortable! I became a woman, fell in love and became a mother and Harry Potter was there the whole time happy to take me away to it’s magical world whenever I needed it. I picked up the last book when I was pregnant with my daughter and fantasised of the day I would get to read it to her; even going back and reading the books aloud to my bump!

I know it seems silly, the books will always be there for me but the last film made me realise that I don’t need the books in the same way any more. I am so lucky to have family and friends around me and to have made a life for myself where I don’t feel the need to escape anymore. I am happy. For this reason I decided to be brave, I went to the last film knowing in my mind that I would be saying goodbye to Harry Potter - goodbye to the support, the crutch that kept me going all those years. The world will always be there for me but now it will be a warm and welcoming embrace and no longer the strong hands stopping me falling into the abyss that I so often needed.

Harry Potter being so strongly in my mind influenced the food I was cooking and over the next few weeks I’d like to share with you the recipes that fondly remind me of Harry Potter. They are indulgent and old fashioned and obviously very British. For some reason Harry Potter always leaned more towards desserts for me but I do have one savoury dish that is my absolute must whenever I’m in a Harry Potter mood. Here’s what I have lined up:

Gainsborough Tart

I have no clue where this originated but I like to think that it was one of Gainsborough’s favourite tarts and was named after him. I actually work in Gainsborough’s sisters house and I can just imagine this deliciously sweet dessert being served up there! The recipe for this one is at the bottom of the blog.

Raw Chocolate and Strawberry Tart

This one isn’t old fashioned at all it’s just for some reason I always found myself eating fresh strawberries with chocolate sauce (in summer) or strawberry creams (at Christmas) while reading Harry Potter so the combination always takes me back!

Vegan Chicken and Ham Pie

Chicken and Ham Pie is mentioned in the books and was one of my favourites. It’s a recipe I’ve played around with a lot when it finally clicked that I should think more outside the box and I finally got that taste and filling combination I was looking for :-)

Harry’s Treacle Tart

How could this one be missed??? I’ve found it quite funny reading several blogs trying to ‘veganise’ treacle tart recipes. I did nothing to this recipe, it’s exactly (…well - I used wholemeal flour for the pastry base but you get my point!) as my Great Grandmother made it and I love it.

A recipe for a Gainsborough Tart follows. It’s an old favourite of mine, especially as I tend to have the ingredients to hand. It’s made with a thin and delicate pastry crust then filled with jam and a creamy vanilla middle and topped with coconut. It’s a perfect dessert summer or winter and goes particularly well with afternoon tea. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

GAINSBOROUGH TART

For the pastry base:

Equipment:

Mixing bowl, spoon, rolling pin, Clingfilm, tart dish

Ingredients:

8oz very fine wholemeal flour

2oz margarine

2oz vegetable shortening

1oz caster sugar

2tbsp cold water (add as necessary)

Instructions:

1/ Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Sift flour into a mixing bowl and stir in the sugar

2/ Add the margarine and vegetable shortening in small (tsp sized) lumps and gently rub into the flour/sugar mixture until it resembles bread crumbs

3/ Add the water a small amount at a time and mix until the dough starts to stick together in a ball.

4/ Crush it twice with the palm of your hand on the work surface then sandwich between two sheets of Clingfilm.

5/ Roll out the dough until it’s roughly 3mm thick. The Clingfilm stretch a little while you roll and will prevent it from falling apart or sticking to the work surface.

6/ When it is the correct dimensions remove one of the sheets of Clingfilm and press pastry side down into the greased tart tin.

7/ Remove the top layer of Clingfilm and patch any gaps in your tart case as necessary. Poke some holes in the bottom with a fork and bake for 20mins at 220 degrees. Leave to cool while preparing the filling.

For The Filling:

Equipment:

Whisk or electric beaters, blender of any kind (to puree the silken tofu), large mixing bowl, tart dish, wooden spoon

Ingredients:

5 tbsp Raspberry Jam (seedless) stirred

6oz margarine

6oz caster sugar

4oz silken tofu

6oz brown rice flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

Splash of non dairy milk as required

3oz desiccated coconut

Instructions:

1/ Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Blend the margarine and tofu together and add to your mixing bowl.

2/ Beat in the sugar and vanilla extract until the mixture is light and creamy in colour.

3/ Sift in the rice flour and baking powder and fold in until the mixture is nicely combined. The mixture should be the consistency of a thick cake batter, if it is too dry then mix in a small splash of non dairy milk then set aside.

4/ Put the raspberry jam into you prepared pie base and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Pour over the rice flour mixture and even out the top if necessary.

5/ Sprinkle over the coconut and bake at 190 for 45-50 minutes until the filling no longer wobbles!

6/ Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. It is delicious both hot and cold.

above: Afternoon tea in the garden with a cup of yogi tea (rose tea) and a good sized slice of Gainsborough Tart

A Gravy Fit For A King (or at least a Weasley King)!

It’s been a longer gap than I would have liked this time - my youngest has been poorly and my life got a little full with doctors visits, emergency doctors visits and not full enough with sleep! Thankfully he’s doing a lot better now - turns out he’s allergic to paracetamol which explains why the minor ear infection was causing such massive problems.

However, before all of this ill toddler panic, I was a very happy bunny as the fabulous weather decided to take a turn to the cool for a few days. I relished in the days of rain, storms and nippy breezes and dreamt of the autumn days to come. I’ve never been one of those typically English people who complains about the cold then complains that the summer is too hot - weather wise I do like to watch the seasons go by and I love the unpredictable nature of a good British summer but I just do not enjoy those super summer days that everyone else seems to relish in.

My other reason for loving autumn and winter is that I just LOVE the food that comes with the season, summer is all light food and snacking but I ADORE having a big plate filled with a hearty casserole or a perfect pie and piled high with a mountain of fluffy mash drizzled with too much gravy!

For the few days the weather was cooler I was in my element making lentil soup with fresh baked bread for lunch, a chickpea and tofu pie (my version of fish pie) and ending the cool spell with a personal favourite of sausage, mash and gravy.

I’ve decided to share with you my recipe for a fantastic mushroom gravy. It truly is scrumptious, easy to make and along with going well with a roast or the sausage and mash mentioned above it makes a great sauce and I often serve it with things like tofu and veg over a bed of quinoa.

Originally I wasn’t going to put this recipe up as I though ‘who wants a gravy recipe?’ but once I started working at my local health shop I was shocked at the number of vegetarians and vegans who didn’t know how to make a gravy and were reliant on nasty packet mixes filled with all sorts of chemicals or would just make up a vegetable stock cube to put with their dinner! After scribbling down the recipe a few time for customers and getting positive feed back I though it would be a good one to share with you.

This gravy is bold but not over-powering and I’ve served it to vegans and meat eaters alike and the recipe is always requested.

**One of the ingredients I use is ‘Shiitake mushroom powder’ now this isn’t actually anything I’ve ever seen for sale, what I do is to buy a bag of dried shiitake mushrooms, blend until fine then stick them back in the packet to store. You can use another dried mushroom if you’d like but PLEASE give it a go - it adds such a deep flavour you’ll end up adding a teaspoon here and there to all your favourite sauces then end up wondering how you ever got along without it! It works out well cost wise as also as although they are expensive to purchase you only use 1 - 2 tsp at a time so it will last **

FANTASTIC MUSHROOM GRAVY

Above: Taifun Herb Grill sausages served with mash potato, caramelised onions, peas, sweetcorn and the mushroom gravy. I’d added some butter beans to the gravy as we were all really hungry that night and they’re my daughters favourite but left to my own devices I would have added cannellini beans as I think they go really well with this meal.

Equipment needed:

Milk pan, wooden spoon, whisk (or just the wooden spoon for those with strong arms!), teaspoon, table spoon, measuring jug

Ingredients:

1 tbsp non-dairy margarine

1 tbsp gram flour

2 ½ tsp shiitake mushroom powder **see note above**

½ tsp low salt stock powder

3 tbsp low salt soy sauce

½ tbsp balsamic vinegar (or cider vinegar)

300-400ml water

3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Instructions:

1. Melt margarine in pan on a low heat

2. Mix in the gram flour until it makes a smooth paste then mix in the mushroom powder and stock powder.

3. Increase the heat to medium/high and add the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, stirring all the while.

4. Switch to using your whisk (this will prevent you ending up with a lumpy gravy) and start to gradually whisk in half of the water.

5. Let the gravy simmer for 3 - 5 mins on a low heat until it’s thickened then whisk in more of the water until the gravy is at the desired thickness.

6. When ready to serve switch off the heat and whisk in the nutritional yeast flakes.

If you’re really wanting the gravy to pack a mushroom punch try adding a drizzle of truffle oil just before serving.

A post with one recipe and no excuse!

Well my word it’s been a long time! I’ve never been one for excuses and if we’re honest they tend to be quite dull so I’ll just jump right in!

I’ve been so busy lately I’ve barely stopped! If I haven’t been taking the kids to new clubs and activities then I’ve been working on EVE (www.EVEwrestling.com) or writing/working on new recipes.

Somewhere along the line I also thought it would be great idea to buy both seasons of Dollhouse at once. Now, I may have mentioned that even after a life time of yoga and meditation practice I have never been the most patient lady - so when I do something such as buy a DVD box set or a new book the main objective for me is to finish it....Quickly. I’m the girl that waited in line at midnight for the Harry Potter books then didn’t sleep until I’d finished them! So, against my better judgement even though I set out saying ‘I’ll just watch one or two episodes a night’ I watched them all over roughly a 3 day period until I started to become doll-like myself.

Due to this and a couple of other ‘incidents’ (I HAD to catch up on the True Blood books!!) and the fact that I've started back at work for the first time in 4 years I thought I’d share with you one of my favourite quick and easy recipes that is coincidentally one of my families favourite dinners.

It’s a great dish full of summer time flavours and I love it as it uses un-pressed tofu so it’s a real time saver and great for those last minute dinners :-)

SIMPLE AND DIVINE ROASTED TOFU, PEPPERS & AUBERGINE

Equipment needed:

Chopping board, knife, 2 large non-stick roasting tins (or 2 large roasting tins lined with parchment paper), pastry brush, small bowl

Ingredients:

1 500g pack of firm tofu, cut in squares roughly 1cm thick (tip - cut into rectangles first then cut in half)

1 Aubergine, sliced in 1cm rounds

2 peppers (I used one red and one orange) sliced in 1 cm rounds

For the marinade:

1 tsp garlic granules

1 tbsp vegan Worcester sauce

1 tbsp maple syrup (or your preferred sweetener)

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

4 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil

4 tbsp soy sauce (preferably low salt)

Instructions:

1/ Preheat your oven to 210C

2/ Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl until combined and set aside

3/ Lay the tofu and aubergine out across the two large roasting tins trying your best not to overlap. You might have to squash the tofu a little but don’t worry too much if there is some slight overlapping.

4/ With a pastry brush, brush the marinade over the tofu and aubergine slices. Turn them all over and bush the other side with marinade also.

5/ Scatter the pepper slices over the top and brush with any remaining marinade. Don’t worry if you don’t have any to spare as it will be just as tasty, it just depends on how big your aubergine was.

6/ Place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and turn everything over (the food not the baking trays…) and bake for 10 more minutes. I tend to rotate shelves as like a lot of ovens my oven can be patchy.

Serve on its own, with basmati rice (pictured above) or with crusty bread.

(for those wondering - I used the tidying technique learnt from Black Books for my photo's :-P)