Wild Garlic Pesto Breads

  
 Everybody knows that late spring, wild garlic smell. It makes my mouth water and this year, settled in my new London home, I couldn’t wait to cook with it! Baking bread is one of my favourite past times. It’s a test of patience and wonderfully satisfying to see something change from humble, cheap ingredients into something universally adored.

If you prefer a neat spiral pattern to your bread, you can roll it up tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing with a very sharp knife but I like the rustic marbled effect of loosely rolling the dough and hand stretching the rolls.

  
For the pesto you’ll need: 

200g wild garlic

Handful fresh parsley

About 100ml quality EVO

Maldon salt to taste

100g cashews, toasted 

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Add all ingredients to a blender, reserving the olive oil and blend. 

Slowly add the oil to loosen the mix until combined.

Jar and keep in the fridge for up to a week or use straight away!

  
For the dough you’ll need:

250ml warm water

200g strong flour 

1 1/2 tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp Maldon salt

7g quick yeast

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Mix together the water, yeast, sugar and oil gently until combined.

Meanwhile, pour the flour into a large bowl and the salt around the edge.

Make a well in the flour and slowly add the liquid, folding the flour in gradually. You should fold in the salted edges last to form a runny dough.

Cling film and leave to prove for 40 minutes until doubled in size. I put in the oven with just the light on for heat.

On a well floured surface, turn out the dough and knead for 5-6 minutes, adding more flour if too sticky.

Roll into a rectangle, about 1cm thick and spread on a generous layer of pesto.

Starting from one side, roll the rectangle into what looks like a Swiss roll.

Slice into 1″ thick pieces using a very sharp knife and arrange onto a baking tray.

Cover loosely with a clean tea towel and leave for a further 15 minutes. At this point you can preheat the oven to 220 degrees c.

Bake at 220 for 4 minutes, then turn the oven down to 200 and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Cool and serve, soup is a perfect accompaniment! 
 

Lewisham Model Market

Last weekend saw the return of Lewisham’s summer food and drink hangout. Chock full of craft beer, world street food and cocktail bars this really couldn’t feel less like Lewisham high street.  
I headed over there with a group of friends for a beer and ended up staying for a few cocktails and food too. To my delight, Club Mexicana, the resident taco, nacho and burrito hang out is 100% VEGAN! Not only this but it was possibly the best Mexican food I’ve ever eaten… And I do not say that lightly.  
The atmosphere was wonderful.We were welcomed in the Rum Shack and treated to a great selection of cocktails. We then headed up to the Lewisham High Line where we watched the crowds pass by below, enjoyed some (seriously good) tequila-coladas and relaxed on the open plan, outdoor seating.

 
Finally we headed to Club Mexicana, where not only is everything vegan, but they don’t skimp on the extras. Load up on nacho cheez sauce, vegan sour cream AND pulled BBQ jackfruit.

  

  
I went for the jackfruit nachos, but my sources tell me that the burrito is excellent too.  

Has anyone been there yet? Head down if you’re in London and let us know what you think!

http://www.streetfeastlondon.com/where/model-market

The Final(ly) Week Of The #Mindful40challenge

  
So as some of you may have noticed, I haven’t finished the challenge. We were doing so well but a new  home, city and job managed to get in the way somewhat. Not all is lost though. I’ve decided to finish the last few days and share some final, unique smoothie recipes with you.

Tonight we welcome a vitamin C packed punch in the form of “Summer Tonic”. 

Let’s welcome the warm weather with something zesty and fresh! 

You’ll need:

1 cup chopped frozen mango

1/2 pineapple, chopped and peeled

1 pink grapefruit, peeled

1 large mandarin, peeled

Juice 1/2 lemon

1/2″ piece fresh ginger

1 cup cold water

The grapefruit kick might feel a little bit overpowering at first, but it feels great to knock back that much superfood without adding refined sugar. If you’re unsure, start with a half and work your way up!

Hugh Thoughtlessly Eats-it-all

Those close to me have learnt that it is impossible for us to watch cookery programmes of the Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall variety together. He enrages me, along with most of his pig wrangling, orchard pruning friends. It’s not him as a person, per say, I do enjoy his squiffy hair and poetic nuances, rather it’s an attitude that he represents and that many people display: Hugh claims to care deeply about an animal’s welfare and yet thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to kill and eat that animal for no good reason (other than the satiation of his rustic fantasies!). This seems inconsistent to me, verging on hypocrisy. I cannot quite get my head around how you can care about a creature and still condone it’s murder. This is the topic that will test me more than any other in finding a balanced discussion, but I’ll have a good go.

So, as I’m squirming on the sofa, watching the joy with which Hugh slaps his beloved pigs on the rump and sends them to slaughter with a chilling smile, what can we say about his behaviour?

In fairness to Hugh, he’s just jumping on the bandwagon. Animal welfare is, quite rightly, a hot topic at the moment – it shows that thankfully people are starting to take an interest in where their food comes from, but it’s had this peculiar effect.

I think it comes down to a fundamental clash between desire and conscience – with increased exposure to the reality of the meat industry, and the surge of interest in alternative ways of living – for the health of mind and body – people are feeling some discomfort with their behaviour. We are starting to think about what eating meat entails, whether it’s good for us and what it means to have an animal suffer and die for our benefit, but jarring against this growing awareness is our desire and the enjoyment we take from a good meal. Pleasures of the flesh, so to speak, are ancient – a cultural norm that we have taken for granted for centuries. Meat represents luxury, energy and satisfaction. This new germ of guilt is uncomfortable – it needs to be assimilated with the things we want, and the things that we believe we need. Such disorder in our values makes us uneasy – I think this is what has led Hugh and so many others to the puzzling conclusion that it’s okay to eat the meat providing we have done everything we can to ensure that an animal’s life is comfortable up until the point of death – the death itself becomes a sort of blind spot. We have developed some moral interest in each step of the animal’s life – from the way it is reared, the conditions in which it is kept and the way it is slaughtered. This moral input seems to satisfy our collective conscience and means we can go back to enjoying our steak dinners with a patched up moral framework in place.

What’s the other alternative then, to this skewed thinking? Sometimes, during one of my more savage outbursts (usually Hugh fuelled) I might declare that it would be better for people give up the pretence of caring all together – at least that would show some consistency. Perhaps the fretting masses should either stop eating meat or just remove themselves from the moral debate altogether, admit that they do not care about the animal’s life or its death and enjoy their meat without a trace of guilt. But that doesn’t really solve the problem, and it leaves us with a nation of callous and barbaric individuals – which I don’t for a moment believe to be the case. People do feel guilt, it’s evident in everything we have discussed so far, and it’s promising!

People aren’t going to stop eating meat overnight, if it is going to happen it will be in increments, so maybe we should embrace the ‘Hugh effect’, for all its inconsistency, as a positive sign of changing attitudes and behaviours. All of us are guilty of some hypocrisy or inconsistency if we examine our behaviour closely enough. That’s part of being human. But there are ways we can moderate our behaviour to do the best we can in the circumstances we find ourselves in – fortunately we are seeing the wobbly start of evolving attitudes. So of course it’s better that Hugh treats his animals with respect while they are alive. The next step is to ask ourselves: would it not be better still if those animals just went on living?

Any thoughts?

Image source: http://www.billedbladet.dk/kendte/international/tv/dr2/beroemt-britisk-tv-kok-filmer-i-danmark

The Supporting Act

There’s an incredible array of vegan patties out there. Beetroot, sweet potato, black bean- take your pick! I can’t, however, help but think that if you stick it between two slices of sad, white bread and serve it with frozen wedges or, God forbid, microchips, you’re not giving it the stage it deserves! I’m not, for one minute, accusing any of you of DELIBERATE burger sacrilege but how often do you really think past the star of the show? Forgive my dry, English sense of humour.For me, a burger needs mayonnaise and it needs fries. They don’t have to be healthy or wholesome. Just make them crispy and give me something to dunk them in. 

  
The Dip.

Veganaise has never been easier to buy from the supermarket. We truly live in a wonderful era! BUT, have you ever thought of making your own? It may be easier than you think.

I’m not a huge advocate of soy and try not to overuse tofu. Recently I’ve been experimenting with aquafaba, so the recipe I tried is glorified chickpea water, and oh my goodness, it’s amazing! A little mustard goes a long way and the lightness of aquafaba makes this Mayo more like a whipped hollandaise. For me, that’s perfect and different from store bought, so it really is worth the effort.

  
I’m honestly quite terrible at proofing recipes. I worked in a professional kitchen for a number of years and have always been somewhat “a pinch of this and a glug of that”. That’s why I’ve linked the original recipe here. I simply beat the aquafaba to soft peaks and slowly dribbled the oil into my blender until the mixture looked glossy (rice bran is my current oil of choice, use it with refined coconut oil on a 3:1 ratio). I then added a little salt, a splash of cider vinegar and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and poured into a jar. I think this recipe could also be used to make a super delicious aioli by roasting and liquidising garlic in place of the mustard. 

  
The Bun.

These semi-flat buns are a variation of a recipe I found on Pinterest. 

http://www.lazycatkitchen.com/The Supporting Act-knead-turkish-bread/

It’s a no-knead recipe so virtually pain free and rises enough for a beautiful bun, not unlike a rustic focaccia. Don’t start this if you’re hungry already though. It requires two stints of proving.  

  
A little tip I learned from an Italian baker is to mix your sugar and tepid water with the yeast itself before mixing with the dry ingredients. This gives it a real chance to start work before it meets the salt. 

I used the same ingredients as the recipe (but mine is sugar free as I swapped out the sugar for maple syrup) and I used a truffle/olive oil blend to add a good depth of flavour. I used both sesame seeds and fresh rosemary to add texture and fragrance. 

      

The Crunch.

Give me chips and anything to dip! I wanted to try something a bit different so these are caper and polenta wedges, baked until crispy.

I followed the directions for the polenta it’s roughly a 1:4 split with water – I used Marigold vegan bouillon but a homemade stock would be even better! When you’ve made a thick paste, add seasoning. I used garlic and onion powder, dried mint and rosemary, plus salt and lots of pepper.

Finally I stirred in some drained, roughly chopped capers. Then left it to set for a few hours. This is a great one to make ahead of time and keep in the fridge in a mould or tub until you’re ready to use it. 

I sliced the block into 1cm thick sticks and rolled them in some seasoned, dried polenta. This helps the fries get really crispy in the oven. 

Preheat a little rice bran oil in a dish at 200•c and when the oven’s hot, throw in the chips.

These really are a labour of love and need a good hour for a perfect crunch, but it’s worth the wait!

  

The Weekend In One! Smoothies Update.

I can’t believe it’s over! The Easter bank holiday is finally coming to an end and everyone is getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. Sorry for the lack of posting, but like many of you, I spent it enjoying wonderful treats with wonderful people! I did keep up with the challenge though. Here are the two newest editions to the #mindful40challenge..

34 : Great-fruit

  
This gem is tangy, packed with vitamin C and requires very little chopping. The addition of pineapple makes it great for digestion and grapefruit helps increase metabolism.

You’ll need:

1/2 pink grapefruit, skin removed

2 clementines, skin removed

1/4 pineapple, skinned & in chunks

12 blueberries, frozen

2 cups water

  
Paige’s verdict: “yummy!”
35 : Summer Fruit Pudding

  
You’ll need:

1/2 pink grapefruit

1/4 pineapple, skin removed & in chunks 

6 strawberries

6 raspberries

1/2 cup black & red currants 

Juice 1/2 Lemon

Day 33 : Pear Crumble

   
This is a truly lean, yet dessert-like recipe! Vanilla works beautifully with both pears and blueberries and it doesn’t even feel like it needs creaminess. 

I threw a couple of odds and ends in too. A couple of tablespoons of pressed apple juice and a drizzle of maple syrup add a luxurious sweetness, hence the name “crumble”. Crumbles are desserts that really remind me of childhood and family dinners. My favourite was apple and blackberry, so I’ll have to work on that recipe next!

I’m thinking of trying this as a sorbet. Does anyone have an idea of how it would translate? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You’ll need:

2 conference pears

2/3 cup blueberries 

2 tbsp fresh apple juice

1 tbsp maple syrup 

1 tsp vanilla essence 

1.5 cups water and a handful of ice

Day 32 : Quench

  
I’ll be honest, the ginger and banana combination wasn’t the best pairing I’ve ever put together but it still wasn’t bad.This smoothie was a pre weekly shop concoction and was primarily made up of freezer fruit. I do love banana for a creamier, filling, breakfast-style smoothie though. Plus berries and mango work in total harmony, skilfully balancing sweetness and tartness. 

You’ll need:

1 banana

8-10 blackberries

1/2 cup frozen mango

1-2″ piece peeled ginger 

2 cups water

Our First Weekend In London

I’m feeling incredibly lucky to live opposite a wonderful, local, Saturday market right now! We’ve spent the last few days without the internet and trying to fit our belongings from a shared, four bed house into our own one bedroom flat! We’re almost there. I’ve also got a few smoothies to upload. Don’t worry, we’ve been doing the challenge- but more about that later…

  
But before anything else, let me share our first Saturday living opposite the infamous Brockley Market.

We started off by having a vegan taco full of homemade re-fried beans and avocado. These were delicious but VERY messy. You may want to bring a napkin! 

  
Next, we shared some vegan and gluten free chocolate fudge cake. This was from one of my favourite stalls at the market. Check out my earlier blog all about them, “Brockley Market and the Vegan South East”.

  
Today I decided to try something different. I’m a huge tequila fan and lived in Tokyo for a year. Both add up to a wide eyed response to what I saw next. 

  
World Of Zing, based in Mile End, East London, make their own beautiful alcohols. I tried (and hastily bought) their sipping tequila. A Margarita made with Persian lime and Nori seaweed. I’ve never been to Mexico but this is exactly what I hoped it would taste like. Wow! At 24% it’s one to take slowly but I’m looking forward to having friends over and enjoying this on a lazy weekend. 

  
Finally, I decided to stock up on local veg’ for the week. For a fiver, I got a 6 huge beets, a celeriac, a carrier bag full of purple kale and a bouquet of Swiss chard. This was a real bargain and the salesman was very helpful!

  
Stay tuned for my kale and chard recipe! 

Day 28 : New Home Tonic! (Belated, I know)

  
Sorry for the recent lack of posts! The last couple of days have been hectic. We’re now in our new home. Still waiting for our things to arrive but I brought my blender, so priorities have been covered! Hehe.After a wonderful evening of house warming with friends and a beautiful locally brewed bottle of vegan wine, my head needed a good de-fuzz. This smoothie was packed full of vitamin C and pomegranate, known for it’s powerful anti inflammatory effects. I felt instantly balanced.

You’ll need:

1/2 seeds from a pomegranate 

2 large, peeled oranges

1/2 pineapple 

1.5 cups water

Blend all of the ingredients and enjoy to feel instantly refreshed.