if you can't stand the heat

I started the day obsessing about enchiladas, the soft wraps and the delicious filling and I was really excited that these turned out so well.





This recipe is theoretically gluten-free, but I have been having a lot of trouble finding tortillas that are actually made from corn, rather than corn and wheat flour. That is, however, the only impediment to its gluten-free status.


ingredients:
1 can refried beans
1 can kidney beans
10 or so small tortilla wrap things
a dozen button mushrooms (diced)
1 medium sized carrot (peeled and diced)
4 tomatoes (diced)
1 onion (red or brown) (diced)
half a green capsicum
cayenne pepper
paprika
chili flakes
oregano
2 cloves garlic (minced)
tomato paste


method:
Stir fry the mushrooms, carrot, half the onion, half the garlic, capsicum, and whatever other vegies you might wish to add. I used snow peas, just because I had some that needed to be used. Also add chili flakes, cayenne pepper, and oregano. When it's about cooked through, add the refried beans and kidney beans, and simmer on low until heated through. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for thirty seconds, just to soften them.

Blend the tomatoes, remaining onion, tomato paste and garlic together with a little paprika to create a salsa.

Scoop two or three table spoons of mixture into each tortilla, roll and place in baking tray. When you run out of room/tortillas/mixture, cover it all in the salsa (try to cover as equally as possible), and bake at about 180C for 20 minutes.

I served this with Matthias' delicious guacamole (recipe here), which is my favourite guacamole recipe.

This recipe is modified off a recipe originally provided to me by vegetus. It's a simple recipe that produces a soft cupcake with a mild chocolate flavour. The real punch comes from the choc chips, which is why they're delicious when still warm.




chocolate choc-chip cupcakes

ingredients:
1 and 3/4 cups SR flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla essence
80g nuttlex or other margarine (melted)
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 cup plain soy milk
1 cup choc chips


method:

Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa together, and mix in the sugar. Add in the vanilla essence, followed by the nuttlex and the apple sauce, and then slowly add the milk, mixing as you add, until a thick batter forms. Mix in the choc chips, then leave the batter to sit for five minutes.

Divide the mixture into a twelve pan cupcake tray, and bake for 15 minutes at 180C. Eat whilst still warm.




The chocolate squares in the photo are from Carmel Valley Chocolates (in Carmel), they are gluten-free and vegan and quite tasty.

One of the things I did after I started at my current place of employment was occasionally mention the casual baking competition we had at my previous place of employment. I would talk about how great it was, how delicious, how much fun. Eventually, I had enough people convinced that we were able to start a casual baking competition of our own. This week's category was slices, something I had never tried before. And I came second! So, that was cool.

This slice is really easy, and really delicious. I honestly can't wait to try making it again, this or another slice!

This recipe is vegan, and though it is not gluten-free it could easily be so if you use gluten-free biscuits rather than plain wheat-based ones.

Chocolate Jaffa Slice


ingredients:

200 grams of biscuits (I used the Arnotts' Nice)
cup walnuts
300 grams dark chocolate
half cup icing sugar
100 grams butter
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind


method:

Crush or blend the biscuits and the walnuts. My blender is on its way out, and the barmix was useless for this job, so I found myself on the floor of my kitchen using my mortar and pestle to pound the walnuts and biscuits into tiny pieces. Pour this mixture into a bowl.

Melt half of the chocolate, the icing sugar (sifted) and the butter together. After removing from the heat, add the orange rind to the mixture, then pour into the biscuit/walnut mixture. Stir it all together until combined. Pour this combination into a cake tin that has been lined with baking paper, and press it all down very firmly. Put it in the fridge to set for about ten minutes.

I took this opportunity to do the dishes, freeing up my chocolate melting pot again. Melt the remaining chocolate, pour into the tin to form the top layer. Smooth it all out evenly, and put it back in the fridge to set again, about another half an hour.

Once cut, it looked really awesome. Next time I think I'm going to sprinkle coconut on top of that chocolate layer, but it was delicious without.

I was stressing out about this for a week, trying to create a vegan, diabetic-friendly cake recipe for a coworker's birthday. Finally I baked it last night, and continued fretting all morning until cake time came, and it turned out to be moist and just sweet enough.

sugar-free, vegan, spiced-apple cake


ingredients:

1 cup SR flour
1/2 cup SR wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla essence
About 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp olive oil or melted nuttlex
1 cup soy milk
1 to 1 1/2 apples (peeled, grated)
1/4 cup sultanas


method:
Sieve and mix all the dry ingredients together. In order, mix in the vanilla essence, applesauce, nuttlex, soy milk, apples and sultanas. Combine well, but don't over mix. I overmixed, and it made the outside a little rubbery when it was cooling.

You can either bake as muffins (15-20 min) or as a cake (just under 40 min) at 180C. You can eat it plain, but it would work with almond flakes sprinkled on top.

falafel balls and spaghetti

falafel balls:
1 can chick peas
2 tbsp tahini
paprika
chilli powder
brown onion
pepper
chickpea flour
2 cloves garlic

super easy sauce:
1 red onion
3 tomatoes
1 clove garlic
handful mushrooms
1/2 can tomato soup


method:

crush the chick peas, mince the garlic, finely chop the brown onion, then mix all felafel ingredients except the chick pea flour together. Slowly add the chick pea flour until the mixture is of a consistency that you can roll it into balls, but still kind of sticky. Roll into balls, lightly flour in remaining chickpea flour. Makes about fifteen balls (don't make them too big). Lightly fry in a wok until golden in a tablespoon or two of oil, three or four at a time, then bake at 160C for twenty minutes, turning halfway.

This frying-baking method is one my mother taught me years ago, it allows what you are cooking to be crispy but well-cooked.

Whilst the falafel balls are baking, put some water (followed by fettucine pasta) on to boil. Roughly chop the red onion and the garlic, lightly fry until onion is translucent, then add the tomatoes (also roughly chopped) and the tomato soup, and any herbs you might like to add. Let simmer lightly for ten minutes, then add the mushrooms, again roughly chopped. Put the lid on, leave to simmer until the pasta and the falafel balls are ready. Serve the falafel balls on the pasta, covered by the sauce. I suggest only three or four balls though, they're pretty filling.

I didn't laugh once whilst writing this post.

Cottage Pie

This is a good way to hide mushrooms in a meal. You can still see them, you just can't taste them.

A cottage pie without meat is (according to Wikipedia) called a shepherdess' pie, but there are so many things inherently wrong with that name that I'm not even going to go into them.

ingredients:

onion (finely diced)
one clove of garlic (minced)
two tomatoes (also finely diced)
carrot (finely diced)
half cup peas
1 can kidney beans
3 or 4 mushrooms (diced)
quarter red capsicum (diced)
vege stock
chives (one tablespoon)
pepper (a shake or two)
cayenne pepper (half teaspoon)
three large potatoes (diced small)

method:

Cook and mash the potatoes in your preferred method. I tend to boil until squishy, then mash.

As the potatoes are cooking, prepare the other ingredients. Fry the onion and garlic until the onion is soft, add the tomato and the chives, pepper and cayenne pepper. Leave for three or four minutes, then add vegetable stock, capsicum and carrot. Leave to simmer for five minutes, then add kidney beans and mushrooms. After simmering for ten minutes, add the peas. Allow the peas to warm through.

Spoon the mixture into an oven proof bowl; cover with mash potato, then sprinkle cheese on top if you eat cheese. Cook in 180C oven for 10 minutes. The mixture in the pie is a bit runny, but very delicious.

Dahl

This recipe is delicious, and simple, and everyone who has tried it has declared it tasty, and I have to assume that they're not lying to me.

ingredients:
half cup green (or yellow) lentils
half cup red lentils
half cup yellow split peas

1 shallot (diced)
ginger (about three cm worth) (diced)
2 cloves garlic (diced)
green chillis (thin slices)*
3 tomatoes (diced well)
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon tumeric
1 can coconut cream


method:

Soak the lentils and peas for six to eight hours. Drain, rinse well, and remove any funny looking bits.

Fry shallot, ginger and garlic until the shallot is clear, then add spices and chilli and fry until the spices are fragrant. Add peas and lentils and tomatoes, stir, add the stock. Simmer, covered, for about fifty minutes, or until the lentils are soft, stirring occasionally and adding water as necessary.

Add the coconut milk, stir through, simmer for another five minutes, then leave to sit (on the burner, but with the heat off) for another two or three minutes.

Serve with roti and rice. The roti will obviously not be gluten-free.

chilli note: two chillis for a mild flavour; four chillis for a bit of spice.

Tomato and Chickpea Pasta in a Lemon Sauce


The lemon made this light, and the chick peas added an interesting texture. It's really easy and tasty, and I'm not usually a fan of chickpeas.

ingredients:
four medium tomatoes (diced chunky but not huge)
one can of chickpeas 400g (drained)
1/8 cup of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
two cloves of garlic
some parsley
pasta
olive oil


method:
Cook the pasta until perfect, drain and return to the pan.

Dry fry the cumin, remove from pan. In a tiny bit of oil fry the garlic for ten seconds, add tomatoes, chickpeas and parsley. Keep on heat until tomatoes are slightly cooked, and the chickpeas are heated through.

In a jar, mix cumin with lemon juice and a tablespoon of oil. Put the lid on and shake well to combine.

Mix the tomato/chickpea mixture into the pasta, then add the cumin/lemon mixture. Stir to combine and serve.

Makes about four serves.

Today is hot and sticky; the forecast is for 39C, and it feels like it. This pasta is light, quick and easy, and brilliant for a hot Labour Day holiday lunch.



Pasta Primavera

ingredients:
350g tubular pasta (such as penne or rigatoni)
1 carrot
a dozen cherry tomatoes
a dozen snow peas
1cup frozen peas
1tbl lemon juice
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
2tbl water
1tsp olive oil


method:

Put the pasta on to boil. Julienne the carrot, tail and halve or third the snow peas, and steam both (separately) until tender. Rinse and drain. Put the frozen peas in a bowl of water to defrost.

When the pasta is almost perfect, with about two minutes left, drain the peas and add to pasta. When all is ready, rinse in cold water and drain.

Prepare the cherry tomatoes - I like to dice them into sixths, but whatever takes your fancy.

Mix the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, water and oil together well. Shake in a well-sealed jar if possible.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and serve immediately.

The total cooking and preparation time is about twenty minutes, as almost everything can be done whilst the water is coming to boil and then whilst the pasta is cooking.

Really in the mood for a creamy broccoli pasta, I tried my hand at Susan's fettuccine no fredo with broccoli. I skipped the sauteed mushrooms, though.

Cauliflower Sauce:
half a head of cauliflower
three or four cloves of garlic
basil
oregano

Dice the garlic, and prepare the cauliflower. Boil all ingredients together until the cauliflower is tender. Allow to cool a little, then blend (along with most of the water) until smooth.

Cook pasta in the usual way; add broccoli heads when pasta is almost cooked through. Mix sauce through and serve.

The idea was pretty awesome, but I think the sauce was missing something. Pepper, definitely (which I forgot). To be fair, it might be the saltiness of bacon that I think is missing, so to replace that saltiness some experimentation may be required. I'd also like to add some snowpeas to it next time, but overall I think it turned out well.

As much as I love cooking, I can at times be a lazy chef. Although the shops are only a five minute walk down the road, I will go without an ingredient if I think I can get away with it. If a recipe calls for blending, I will work extra hard with my knives so I don't have to wash the extra dishes. So usually when I follow a recipe, the word 'adapted' will apply.

I adapted this recipe from a recipe at Fat Free Vegan.

ingredients for the paste:
2 cloves of garlic, diced
some ginger, about two centimetres cubed, chopped
1/2 tsp brown sugar (although apparently a date will do, too)
1 tsp coriander seeds (the original recipe called for ground coriander, but see above)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp tumeric

ingredients for curry:
1 shallot, diced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
1 small green capsicum, diced
1 small zucchini, cut into 1 cm cubes (skin on)
half a cauliflower, cut into small florets
medium size can of kidney beans (drained)
2 tbl tomato paste
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock


method:

My love of pounding curry paste is well-known. Although this recipe called for blending the paste ingredients together until smooth, I found my mortar and pestle a more satisfying option. Do as you find more convenient, but no matter how long it takes, I love the colours of a freshly-made curry powder; I love the bright reds and yellows, and the way it goes from powders in a bowl to a thick, aromatic paste. The sound of it is comforting, too, a sound from my youth associated with strong smells (and blachan).

Heat a curry pot over a medium heat. Add the shallots in a little oil, and fry for thirty seconds; add the carrots and a couple of tablespoons of water, and allow to cook (covered) until softened. Stir and add more water as necessary.

Add the paste and fry until fragrant. Then add the capsicum, cauliflower, zucchini and kidney beans. Stir, and add the stock and tomato paste (mix the paste in well). Cover and leave to simmer on low.

When the vegetables are tender and just about ready, stir the peas through, and put the lid back on for three or four minutes.

Serve over rice. DELICIOUS. Not terribly spicy-hot, but still delicious.

One of the rules in our house is that I'm not allowed to buy new cookbooks until I've tried a certain percentage of the recipes in the previous book. I've been trying to get through Vegie Food, so I thought tonight that I'd give their pumpkin ravioli recipe a try. I thought it would be a bit lonely though, so I served a side dish of baked potato in a tomato and cayenne pepper sauce, loosely based off this recipe.

I didn't quite follow the ravioli recipe to the letter: it called for a total of about 190gm of butter, which no pasta sauce should call for. The ravioli was disappointing, and I don't believe that it was my modification - the butter sauce was the wrong sauce for the ravioli, and the ravioli squares were too large. I feel the basis of the recipe is sound, and the ravioli was delicious, but it will require further modification in the future.




Sweet Potato Ravioli in a Butter Sauce

ingredients:
one sweet potato
two teaspoons of lemon juice
one egg
about a quarter cup of grated parmesan
one 250g packet of wonton wrappers
chives
a little butter

method:
Peel and dice the sweet potato. Boil in water (with the lemon juice) for about fifteen minutes, or until soft enough to mash. Mash sweet potato, and mix in a shake or two of chives, the parmesan, and half of the (lightly beaten) egg.

Place one and a half teaspoons of potato mixture in the centre of a ravioli square. Moisten the sides with egg, and cover with a second ravioli square. Seal the edges firmly together and put aside.

Cook ravioli in batches, about four minutes each batch. Drain carefully and well.

Prepare the sauce: the sauce was a straight butter sauce, involving melting the butter, adding a bit of sage, and drizzling it over the ravioli, but it was completely the wrong taste for the ravioli and in the future I'll be trying something else.

This recipe can easily be modified to be vegan: the egg was really only used as a binding agent, and I've found on previous occasions that water works just as well. And I'd recommend a different sauce anyway, so the butter in the recipe can also be removed.


Patatas Bravas

ingredients:
two or three potatoes
half an onion
two cloves of garlic
one tablespoon paprika
quarter teaspoon cayenne pepper
two tomatoes
a handful of olives

method:
Dice the potato, then boil on the stove for five minutes. Drain well. Place on a shallow baking tray, drizzle in oil, then cook (in a preheated oven) at 190C for twenty five minutes, turning them about halfway through. When they're done, the potatoes should be crispy.

Dice the onion and mince the garlic; saute until the onion is transparent. Add the paprika and the cayenne pepper, and stir until they become fragrant, then add the diced tomato. Allow to simmer for about ten or fifteen minutes, until the tomato is nearing partial mush, then add the olives. I prefer sliced olives, but however you prefer.

Hopefully both the potatoes and the sauce are ready at the same time. Serve by spooning the sauce over the potatoes.

As I mentioned above, this recipe is a modification on this one at Fat Free Vegan, and it was a delicious accompaniment.

This is for a vegan green curry.

ingredients:
1 cup of coriander leaves
2 tablespoons ginger
1 red onion/shallot
2 lime kaffir leaves
2 green chillis
2 teaspoons of cumin
1 medium sized can of coconut milk
1.5 cups of stock
Various vegetables.

method:
Cut up the coriander leaves and the chillis (deseed if you require a mild curry), and mix together with the cummin and the ginger and a tiny bit of water, to make a paste. Dice the shallot, and fry for thirty seconds in a little peanut oil. Add the curry paste and fry until fragrant, at which point add the coconut milk and the stock. Allow to simmer on low for a few minutes. Then add the vegetables in usual cooking order, and simmer on low, stirring occasionally, until they're all cooked through.

I added (in this order) (and prepared appropriately): potatoes, capsicum, snake beans, brocolli, bok choy, and bean shoots.

It was delicious!

I had no idea how to cook a pumpkin curry. So I used this curry from New Curries a Australian Woman's Weekly book. It looks very interesting.

paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger

ingredients
a handful of coriander leaves
3 or 4 red chillies, sliced thinly
10cm stick of lemon grass, sliced thinly
2 gloves garlic, crushed
4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
about 500 to 600ml of coconut milk
1/3 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon kecap asin
1 tablespoon grated palm sugar
1 butternut pumpkin
sugar snap peas, trimmed
snake beans, trimmed and coarsely chopped


method
Dry fry the paste on medium heat until fragrant. Add about a tablespoon of peanut oil, along with the chilli, lemon grass, garlic, lime leaves, coriander and onion, and stir fry until the onion softens. Add coconut milk, lemon juice, kecap asin, sugar and pumpkin, and simmer uncovered until the pumpkin softens.

It was at this point that I freaked out, fearing that the Woman's Weekly had failed me. I cheated and used dark soy instead of kecap asin, because I didn't have any in the house, and the liquid went this terrible shade of brown, and it tasted yuck. However, after about half an hour, stir in the peas and beans, and allow it to cook another five minutes until the peas and beans are tender. Allow it to sit a minute or two, and then serve.

And then it's delicious! Well, that's what my dinner guests told me, so I suppose I have to believe them.

This evening I cooked a vegan curry. It was quite tasty, and very simple.

curry ingredients:
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
fresh spinach
4 tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 can of chickpeas (drained)
1 lime
1 tablespoon tomato paste

paste ingredients:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon tumeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder


To make the paste, add all the paste ingredients together and slowly add water, mixing until it forms a thick paste.

Brown the onions, then add the garlic and let it fry for a minute. Add the tomato and the chickpeas, combine, then add the paste. Stir the paste in, and allow the curry to simmer on low for ten minutes, stirring not quite constantly, but quite often. Add in the spinach, and the juice from the lime (no seeds). Allow to simmer on really, really low for another ten minutes with the lid on.

And that's it! Serves four, I think.