Blow Up Food

Black Pepper Tofu

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:36:13 +0100

Once upon a time Blow Up Food was a slightly neglected Posterous blog. As from today Posterous will cease to exist, so I thought I’d have a quick rummage to see if there’s anything I’d hadn’t yet salvaged and I found this old post on Black Pepper Tofu.

Black Pepper Tofu is an Ottolenghi recipe from Plenty. It’s super spicy and fairly easy to make, though the heavy use of different soy sauces means it’s sadly not wheat-free. I’ll have a play around with some Tamari and update this post when I’ve figured out what will work, but if you’re fine with gluten then I recommend giving this a go.

Ottolenghi’s Black Pepper Tofu (Serves 4)

800g firm, fresh tofu (if you’re near an Asian supermarket, try to get there early in the morning and you can get it still warm)
Grapeseed oil, for frying
150g butter
12 small shallots (350g), peeled and thinly sliced
8 red chillies, thinly sliced
12 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped ginger
5 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
16 small, thin spring onions, cut into segments 3cm long

Cut the tofu into 3cm x 2cm blocks fry the tofu in batches in the oil, turning the pieces as you go. Once they are golden all around, and have a thin crust, transfer to a paper towel. Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan and throw in the butter. Once it has melted, add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger, and sauté for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the contents of the pan are shiny and totally soft.

While you wait, crush the peppercorns, using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. They should be quite coarse. When the shallots and chillies are soft, add the soy sauces and the sugar, stir, then stir in the crushed pepper. Warm the tofu in the sauce for about a minute, then add the spring onion and stir through.

Original recipe

Showroom Vegan Night

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:40:00 +0100

My second foodie piece for Sheffield website Our Favourite Places has just been published - it’s a review of the Vegan Night recently held at the Showroom Cinema, which was a bit lovely.

If you fancy a read, you can find it here.

Smørrebrød - Danish Open Sandwiches

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:35:00 +0100

Mmmm, Danish food.

This Easter Sunday we made Smørrebrød - Danish Open Sandwiches. I love Denmark, and I’ve eaten some of the best meals of my life there. Everything is so fresh and full of warm Scandinavian flavours, plus you get to wash it down with a nice glass of hoppy beer, if you frequent the right places.

We’ve made Smørrebrød before, but this time we decided to do it right, with the help of this super brilliant blog, www.danishsandwich.com, which is completely devoted to the fine art of Danish Open Sandwiches.

We started with the bread. Smørrebrød needs to be on Rye, and whilst you can easily buy rye bread in most supermarkets, we really wanted to have a crack at making our own. @topfife took charge on this one, and used this smashing Rugbrød recipe, though he substituted the white flour for buckwheat flour to keep everything wheat-free. It’s a long process, and you’ll need to start your first batch about a week before you plan to eat it - but it’s really worth it. The loaf we ended up with was dense and sour and all good things a Scandinavian loaf should be.

We then got to work on what we wanted our toppings to be. I had this lovely meat-free platter of Smørrebrød at Aamanns when I went for lunch in 2012, which gave me lots of inspiration for what I could make at home.

After a bit of thought and a fruitless search for a ripe avocado, I settled on my final selections for toppings

Soft boiled egg, pea shoots, remoulade, gherkins and dill
Potato, spinach, remoulade, chives, crispy onions (potato Smørrebrød is called kartoffelmad, which is my new favourite word)
Smoked cheese, radish, cucumber, swiss chard, chives (this topping is called sommersalat and I based mine on this recipe)

These were the results:

Anything with pickles tastes good in my opinion, but these Smørrebrød had it all - crunchy, sour, salt, fresh and creamy, all in one place. I cannot recommend making them enough, especially if you’re avoiding wheat, but you’ve got a hankering for a totally awesome sandwich.

Here are a few tips to make good Smørrebrød:

1. Make sure there’s a good slather of butter on your thinly sliced Rye bread. The Smørre in Smørrebrød means butter, so that should give a good idea about how important it is to the dish.

2. Pile the toppings high There should be no bread showing in between your ingredients, and there’s always room for an extra pickle or a sprinkling of dill.

3. Add crispy onions to everything. We mandolined some shallots, dusted them in Rye flour and fried them in some grapeseed oil. They were amazing, so make loads.

4. Have a poke around www.danishsandwich.com and you’ll be a pro in no time. The recipe for Remoulade is spot on.

Seriously, crispy onions

Mexican Vegetable Soup

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:04:00 +0000

It’s Arctic in Sheffield this month. Even though it’s nearly Easter, we’ve got nearly a foot of snow in some places. So, I’m cold and craving soup - hella spicy soup to be precise, which is how this recipe came to be.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
1 green chilli (sliced - seeds in if you like it hot)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 courgette (sliced)
1 box/ tin of chopped tomatoes (get good ones)
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper
4-6 drops of Tabasco
1/2 lime juice
A glug of olive oil
Salt and pepper
A big handful of roughly chopped coriander (yum)

RECIPE

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion and garlic until they start to soften. Add the pepper and courgette and start to warm through (but don’t colour them).

Add the tomatoes, then add the same amount of water as tomatoes - filling up the box or tin they came in is a good way of measuring this. Season with salt and pepper then add the cayenne, cumin and tabasco.

Leave to simmer on a medium heat until the sauce has reduced and the vegetables are tender - about 10-15mins.

Transfer the whole thing into a large bowl and whizz it up with a hand blender. Add water to get the consistency you’re happy with then chuck in the coriander and the lime juice. Give it a stir and you’re done.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream (if you’re not vegan), and a huge glass of water. This soup be hot.

Our Favourite Places - Top 3 for Veggies in Sheffield

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:35:00 +0000

The lovely Our Favourite Places folks have launched a brand spanking new website to house their reviews, previews and top tips for having a brilliant time in Sheffield.

I’m very proud to be a contributor to the site, writing bits and bobs on veggie, vegan and wheat-free food (as well as film - the day job!).

Have a look at my first veggie piece: Top 3 for Veggies, which includes some top tips for meat-free eating out, and keep your eye out for more in the coming months.

www.ourfaveplaces.co.uk

Aubergine and Wild Rice Salad

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:42:06 +0000

I’m making a lot of my work lunches at the moment because a) I’m not loaded, and b) I’m not eating much wheat these days and my bread-free choices in Sheffield city centre are getting a bit repetitive (Fanoush aside - I love that place).

Today I made this salad, which is based on my interpretation of the Ottolenghi formula - one awesome vegetable of your choice + left-over rice/ grain + a shredded up salad leaf + nuts/ dried fruit, all mixed together with a dressing. It’s a combination that you can rarely mess up, and even if you do it can usually be rescued by a big dollop of hummus on the side.

This salad is roast aubergine, basmati, wild and red rice, baby spinach and pine nuts. The dressing is one part extra virgin olive oil, one part lemon juice, a small crushed garlic clove, a bit of shredded basil and a pinch of chilli flakes (+ S&P). It can be customised based on whatever you have in, or whatever you have left over.

The Ledbury - 8 course vegetarian tasting menu

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:44:00 +0100

(Saint Nectaire on toast)

Tasting menus used to seem to me to be something designed for meat-eaters - opportunities for chefs to showcase their butchery skills, their meat cooking techniques and to introduce new types of animal bits for diners to try. No ta.

However, this seems to be seriously changing. I’ve been to several places in the last few years that not only provide full vegetarian tasting options, but publicise the menus on their website - it always makes me relax to see a meat free menu in advance.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I see Noma as leading the way on this, and have eaten some of the most incredibly exciting and challenging vegetarian offerings there - whilst feeling that the menu was not just a concession to my dietary choices, but a big part of the wider ethos of Noma. It’s very pleasing to see other restaurants doing the same.

As I was working in London a few weekends ago, we decided to book The Ledbury after seeing their veggie menu proudly sitting on their website. We were a bit nervous before hand, as although I’ve been to a fair few Michelin starred restaurants I’d never been to one in London - I figured with my Northernness and crap hair (my straighteners have bust), I’d stick out like a sore thumb.

And yeah, it was full of a lot of bankers and rich people but I started to realise something after the amuse bouche came out - good restaurants don’t care if you’re rich or posh. They just want you to be engaged with the food and to enjoy yourself. I relaxed quickly as I munched this lovely thing:

Matching wines also helped.

The food was pretty wonderful. Brett Graham cooks with an Asian slant on his food - not in a gimmicky ‘fusion’ way, but in a way that introduces Asian flavours and ingredients with perfect balance. It’s not evident in every dish, but the ones that did introduce some Asian flavours (gnocchi with lemongrass and ginger; aubergine with black sugar and shiso) were definitely the strongest plates.

One of the highlights of the evening was when the waiter brought out a beetroot baked in clay and tapped it open in front of me.

He then whisked it away to plate it up into this magnificent thing:

I was really pleased that they made the effort to bring something out to show to me, as this is what they’d done with a meat dish that @topfife was having. Places that make sure vegetarians don’t miss out on any of the experience are really special and worth spending your saved-up money on. I’d definitely want to go to The Ledbury again, just for that. Oh and the cheese. I’d go back for the cheese:

Oh and eucalyptus chocolate petit fours. Can these be shipped in bulk to Sheffield?

Full pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/topfife/sets/72157631614849805/with/8020871524/

Basil Pesto

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 14:33:18 +0100

There are a lot of pesto recipes out there, and I’ve tried them all: with/ without pecorino; with butter instead of olive oil (thanks for nothing Matthew Fort); toasting the pine nuts; roasting the garlic… I even went through a long period of persisting with the pestle and mortar after reading an article about the pesto championship in Liguria that made me feel a bit inadequate - but to be honest it just took too bloody long. Pesto should really shouldn’t take longer to make than your pasta takes to boil (6-7 mins), so resorting to a hand blender is no bad thing (sorry if I have any Italian readers. I’m so sorry).

My many experiments have eventually resulted in a recipe I love, and I’ve acquired a few tips along the way that are worth sharing:
1) Don’t toast the pine nuts. You lose a bit of that lovely sweetness that the pine nuts add
2) Likewise, don’t cook the garlic, although it’s good to be frugal with it. I love garlic, but once it gets blended it can really overpower the sauce and throw the balance off
3) Invest in a really good extra virgin olive oil - bad olive oil makes for bad food
4) Trust your own tastebuds. If there’s not enough basil, add a load more. Basil’s strength varies hugely depending on the season, so you may need more in colder months
4) This is the important one - don’t mix your pesto into the pasta whilst it’s in your saucepan. Mix the pesto and pasta together in a large cold bowl. The hot saucepan will damage the delicate basil flavour and you’ll be left disappointed after your hard work to make a brilliant sauce. I’m not kidding when I say this really makes a difference - this is my super-duper, top tip, and you are welcome.

INGREDIENTS
1 large basil plant (or two little ones)
½ garlic clove
70g pine nuts (reserve a few extra to top your dish)
Finely grated vegetarian hard cheese
A pinch of sea salt
A big glug of extra virgin olive oil
(I know these are imprecise, but you need to taste and mix until you’re happy)

RECIPE
Add the basil leaves, the pine nuts, a big glug of olive oil, the salt and the garlic to a large bowl. Blend with a hand blender until the consistency is nearly smooth (you don’t want soup, but you don’t want big unblended chunks of garlic or nut either).
Grate in the cheese and mix with a spatula. Taste and season again with more cheese or salt if needed. Add a little more olive oil if the mixture is a bit stiff. It’s your dinner so make sure you’re happy with the balance.

Tip your drained pasta (gnocchi, linguine, trofie - whatever your favourite is) into the bowl of pesto and mix with your spatula. Sprinkle in a few more pine nuts and serve with a twist of black pepper.

Yoghurt & Spelt Flatbreads

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:24:00 +0100

— Guest post by Gregory Povey, @topfife.

Last week, I bought Jaq Jerusalem, the new book by Yotam Ottolenghi (and Sami Tamimi). It’s a love letter to Jerusalem, taking in Israeli and Arab dishes, and covering a lot of the influences from the Mediterranean — about 60-70% of which is vegetarian or vegetable-based.

We’ve been a fan of Middle Eastern and Jewish-heritage food for a long time. Mostly through a lot of obvious things - rice dishes, lamb (me), hummous, falafel, boregi, pickles, baklava - and their massive love of salt. Oh, the salt. It’s a bit tricky, as there is obviously a lot of food that falls so far outside the remit of ‘vegetarian’ as to not be approachable, but we’re trying. This week we’ve tried a few - imam bayildi, dukkah, and flatbreads.

The flatbreads present another tiny problem as Jaq is experimenting with a wheat-free diet. Most other flours don’t seem to have the strength of wheat, but spelt is working out well. It’s got a slightly earthier, wholemeal flavour to it, but it’s light enough to fill in for white wheat flour.

A look in Ottolenghi’s Plenty and a couple of tweaks, leads us to Yoghurt & Spelt Flatbreads.

RECIPE:

500g spelt flour (probably wheat, if you like)
500g low-fat Greek yoghurt (TOTAL 2% from FAGE is the best greek yoghurt we’ve found in supermarkets)
1tsp olive oil
1tsp baking powder (a healthy 1 tsp)
½tsp salt
Chopped coriander (optional)

Set aside the yoghurt in a bowl and mix in the olive oil. This will loosen the yoghurt up a little and provide a bit of lubricant when kneading.

Add the baking powder and salt to the flour and blend together. Scoop the yoghurt on top of the flour, before making a dough with your hands. This will get sticky. If it’s too dry, add some extra yoghurt until you’re happy with the texture.

Turn out onto your work surface (it doesn’t need to be floured, really) and work the dough. Now spend a good few minutes of kneading, it will be a proper heel-of-the-hand kneading job and your triceps will benefit. (see top image)

Before long, you’ll have a luxurious, stretchy dough with a smooth texture.

Wrap it up in cling film and stick it in the fridge for about an hour, or upto a few days. The longer you leave it, the more tangy yoghurt flavour you will have in your final bread.

When you want to make the flatbreads, make a long roll on a floured surface and cut it up into equal sections. Make a ball out of each section, then roll them to about about ½ inch thick - until they look like flatbreads - and put them to the side.

There are now two options of how to cook them:

1. Pan Fried.
This will give you a flatter, paratha-like flatbread with a crispier texture.

Heat up a pan and add some olive oil. Lay your flatdough into the pan and let it cook. When bubble start to appear, turn it over. Cook for ~90 seconds each side, or until you’re happy with the colour and satisfied that the dough is cooked.

2. Baked.
This will give a lighter, puffed-up bread along the lines of a pitta.

Pre-heat the oven to about 200dC and place the flatbread dough on a floured tray mid-high in the oven. If you’ve got a pizza stone, use that. After about 5 minutes, your dough should be puffed up and proud like a morning cockerel. Turn the bread over and leave for another five minutes.

Take out, let it cool a tiny bit, then scoop up some tahini, olive oil & dukkah, or a load of tzatziki.

Zeugma, Sheffield

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:14:43 +0100

Zeugma, with its open grill and famed Turkish kebabs, is a Sheffield institution for meat eaters, but I wouldn’t have been a loyal patron for the last 6 years is they didn’t know how to treat a vegetarian too. For most of those 6 years I’ve been ordering the same two things - Kisir (a spicy bulgar wheat dish with walnuts and yum) and their vegetarian kebab. The kebab is a total feast - perfectly cooked vegetables served with the best rice in the world, homemade hummus and halloumi. Whilst I‘ve been perfectly content to order the same thing for the past 6 years, I was starting to worry that the waiter was getting disappointed with me. 6 years of warm welcomes and I repay him by barely looking at the menu - as a loyal customer, I decided on my latest visit that I simply must try harder.

I went for Iman Bayildi (Priest Fainted), a whole baked aubergine, filled with vegetables and sauce. Oh boy, it was worth dragging myself away from my usual for. Deeply rich in flavour, covered in a scrumptious sauce, served with that perfect rice I love so much and some creamy, yet tart plain yoghurt. I have a feeling the waiter was pleased I’d been less predictable than usual, as we were treated to a portion of this delicious dessert. Pistachios are the best, especially served with crispy noodles, honey and ice cream.

Spinach Boregi (starter)

Sushi Express, Sheffield

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:24:00 +0100

Sushi Express has been open for a while in Sheffield - the sushi is always very fresh, and the complimentary miso soup is vegetarian to boot. Happily, they also seem to frequently introduce new vegetarian options and they recently added kimchi maki to the menu. Readers of this blog may have noticed my growing obsession with Kimchi. ‘It’s very hot’ warned the waiter, and although he was right, it’s certainly not painfully so. It’s actually blooming lovely.

Here are a few more items from the Sushi Express menu. Order the fried tofu if you go. No seriously, it’s more than a bit heavenly:

Tamago and Inari Maki, Kimchi Maki and Inari Nigiri

Wheat Free Elevenses - Chocolate dipped florentines, coconut & lime macaroons

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:41:00 +0100

Wheat messes with a lot of people these days, but that shouldn’t mean you have to go without your biscuity/ cakey elevenses, or that you have to settle for a packet of dusty gluten-free digestives.

These two recipes can be whipped up in no time and last for several days (if you don’t scoff them all before they’ve cooled). They don’t even have to be shared with your pals under the premise of being wheat-free - just make them, eat them and feel smug about your happier tummy.

Chocolate-dipped Florentines
This recipe is adapted from a David Lebovitz adaptation of an Ottolenghi recipe.

Ingredients
1 large egg white
40g icing sugar
One hearty glug maple syrup
130g of a mixture of mainly sliced almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts (or any other oily nuts)
30g cranberries or sour cherries (optional)
Pinch of sea salt
50g chocolate (it’s up to you whether you prefer dark or milk)

Recipe
Preheat your oven to 150°C and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Pour a little vegetable oil onto the parchment and spread it around.

In a glass or metal bowl mix together all of your ingredients except for the chocolate. If the mixture is a bit runny, add more nuts else you’ll get a weird meringue like situation in the oven.

Using wet hands place the mixture into blobs on your baking tray. Push the blobs into flatter shapes using a wet fork. Try to make sure there are no holes in your flattened blobs.

Pop the florentines into the oven for 15-20mins under they’re golden all over and all of the nuts seem to be fixed to each other.

Leave until cool then remove from the tray.

Now you can melt your chocolate. I like to use dark chocolate if the florentines are sweet and have berries in, and milk chocolate if they’re salty and nutty. If you don’t want your chocolate to ‘bloom’ then David Lebovitz suggests tempering the chocolate, but to be honest they’ll probably get eaten before that happens so it’s not a necessity.

Once the chocolate has melted, spread some on the base of the florentines using a spatula, then pop them in the fridge to set. Gobble with a big mug of tea.

Coconut and lime macaroons (pictured at the top of the page)
This recipe is adapted slightly from a BBC recipe by Jill Dupliex

Ingredients
2 egg whites
100g caster sugar
140g desiccated coconut
Zest of 2 limes
Juice of 1 lime

Recipe
As with the florentines, preheat your oven to 150°C and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Pour a little vegetable oil onto the parchment and spread it around.

Mix all of your ingredients together in a glass or metal bowl then shape into evenly sized piles on your baking tray. Try to keep their shape fairly rough so you get nice caramelised edges.
Bake until they are golden all over (20-25mins). If they feel wobbly or that they’re not properly stuck together then turn the heat down a smidge and give them a bit longer.

Leave them to cool, then remove from the tray (they feel a bit firmer after they’ve cooled). Again, gobble with a big mug of tea. Tea goes with everything.

Warm cucumber, pea and broad bean salad with halloumi

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 19:10:00 +0100

I missed the first half hour of Saturday Kitchen this week, but @topfife caught it, and he watched Ashley Palmer-Watts make a deliciously fresh looking warm cucumber salad to go with some mackerel.

We decided to give it a go for tea, but instead of mackerel, we thought some griddled halloumi would do the job. It really worked. The contrast between the rich, salty cheese and the fresh, herby salad was lovely and the cooked cucumber, particularly the griddled hearts, made this a super fresh summery tea.

The recipe can be found on the BBC website (the salad is under garnish for some reason), but this is what we did to turn it into a meal fit for a hungry vegetarian:

Ingredients (serves 2)
1 large cucumber
3 tbsp shallots (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
2½ tbsp white wine vinegar
150g broad beans (double podded)
150g peas (frozen is fine)
2 tbsp chopped dill
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 pack of halloumi, sliced
Sea salt and black pepper
Olive oil
Pea shoots or similar salad leaves

Recipe
Prepare the cucumber by peeling then cutting the whole cucumber heart out. Cut ½ of the remaining cucumber into 1cm chunks, and grate the other half. You’re just after the juices from this bit so squeeze the grated cucumber into a bowl and set aside. To sum up, because I’m worried I’m being confusing, from your whole cucumber you should now have one long cucumber heart, some 1cm pieces and about 4tbsp of cucumber juice (you can saved the grated bits for tzatziki).

Boil the peas briefly, the cool in iced water. Set to one side. Do the same with the broad beans, then double-pod them by squeezing the beans out of the skin. Set aside.

Season the cucumber heart then place it in a hot griddle pan along with your halloumi slices. Cook until both have lovely stripes across them.

In the meantime, cook the remaining cucumber pieces in some olive oil until they start to colour, then reduce the heat and add the garlic and shallots, stirring for about 2 minutes. Then add the white wine vinegar to the pan and stir until almost absorbed. This will make the cooked cucumber slightly pickled and delicious.

Now add the peas, broad beans, cucumber juice and herbs. Stir together briefly to heat, then get ready to serve. Pile the pea and bean mixture on your plate and top with the griddled cucumber heart (diced up) and your slices of halloumi. Serve with pea shoots, or any similar salad leaves. Eat up.

Courgette, artichoke and spelt salad

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:08:00 +0100

Just a quick post today with a recipe for a nice spelt salad, which is what I just ate for my lunch. Spelt is lovely - chewy, versatile and much faster to cook than barley. I know barley is cheaper, but I resent standing around boiling it for the entire evening. I have some very important telly-watching to do.

Ingredients

4 baby courgettes (trimmed and sliced in half lengthways)
A handful of pinenuts (toasted)
A handful of spelt
A few semi-dried tomatoes
5 artichoke hearts
1/2 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
A handful of basil leaves
Sea salt and black pepper

Recipe

If you’re using artichoke hearts from a jar, rinse the oil and herbs off first as these can be a bit dull tasting. It’s better to soak them in your own dressing as I think artichokes really work best with a bit of a sharp flavour. In a bowl, mix your artichokes with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper and the juice of half a lemon (a bit of garlic is good here too). If your hearts are big enough, slice them lengthways into smaller pieces so they’ll go a bit further. Leave them to sit in the dressing whilst you prepare the rest of your salad.

Boil your spelt for about 15-20 minutes then rinse in cold water. Leave to stand in a sieve for a while.

Place your courgettes in a griddle pan with a little oil and heat until you have lovely stripes across them. Turn them over to cook the skin side then remove from the heat.

When all of your ingredients are cool, in a bowl mix together the spelt, the courgettes, the artichokes (save the dressing though) and the semi-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, finely chop your basil and add it to the olive oil and lemon mixture that you had your artichokes in. Season a little more if needed, them mix into the salad. Finally add your toasted pine nuts and mix.

If you’re having this for tea instead of lunch, serve with some torn up mozzarella and some crusty bread and pretend you’re somewhere sunnier than you are.

(the salad when it was freshly made last night, struggling not to be eaten)

Little Hanoi, Sheffield

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:29:00 +0100

Little Hanoi is a brand new Vietnamese restaurant that just opened on London Road in Sheffield. I went along to the ‘soft’ opening on Sunday, and left with a belly full of well cooked, tasty, meat-free food.

Some points that will make vegetarians happy about going to Little Hanoi:

Lots of choice
I’ve been told there are 18 veggie options on the Little Hanoi menu, and although I didn’t count, there are definitely plenty. I think vegetarians should be as spoilt for choice as much as the next person. That’s half the fun of eating out.

Lots of Tofu
I love tofu. It’s totally unappreciated and has earned a bad reputation from hippies and that crap they sell in supermarkets. Proper tofu is brilliant, and Little Hanoi has plenty of it, cooked well - crispy on the outside and custardy in the middle.

The veggie stuff is actually properly labelled
Little Hanoi’s menu clearly shows which dishes use fish sauce, and don’t put a (v) against them even if they are a non-meat dish. This is a mistake a lot of restaurants make. It’s nice to feel confident that you’re not getting some sneaky shrimp in your meal.

New, authentic dishes
It’s boring getting offered the same vegetarian options from restaurant to restaurant, but Little Hanoi has some interesting dishes that I’ve never tried before. For main course I ordered Hot Clay Pot Stew with Aubergine and Tofu (without the peanuts), which is a delicious lemongrass curry, thick with coconut and full of silky aubergine and lots of tofu. I was pretty happy with it, but there’s enough on the menu that I don’t have to have the same thing next time I go.

Little Hanoi looks to be a great addition to the London Road restaurants that welcome vegetarians (I’ve loved Zeugma and Dim Sum for years). It’s also staffed by some very helpful people, so don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for substitutions (the vegetarian diner’s secret weapon). I’d say Little Hanoi is place a veggie can feel confident and full of good food, which is my favourite state to be in.

Ssam - Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 15:05:00 +0100

This isn’t an authentic, bang-on recipe for Ssam (the Korean term for wrapping food up in lettuce - usually pork) but is a completely delicious recipe for a tofu version, resembling ‘lettuce wrapped’ which is a starter you can sometimes get at Chinese restaurants. It’s completely delicious, fairly healthy and fast to make, providing you get all of your chopping out of the way before you start to cook.

The key to this dish is plenty of tofu, not being stingy with the garlic, ginger and chilli, and buying a really good Hoisin. I used the Flying Goose brand. If Hoisin isn’t your thing, try Sriracha and prepare for your socks to be blown off.

Ingredients
1 pack firm tofu (pressed then diced)
Veg oil (to fry the tofu)
Light soy (1 teaspoon)
Dark Soy (1 teaspoon)
Sherry vinegar (1/4 teaspoon)
Rice vinegar (1/2 teaspoon)
Black pepper
A pinch of sugar
A big chunk of ginger (about the same quantity as your garlic when finely chopped)
3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
3 red chillies (finely chopped)
1 carrot (diced)
1 onion (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
4-6 chestnut mushrooms (depending on size)
Hoisin sauce
1 iceberg lettuce (peeled into cups)
½ cucumber (cut into matchsticks)
A handful of crushed cashews

Recipe
Press the tofu under a plate for about 15-30mins. If you’re pushed for time this is not essential, but squeezing out any excess water between your flattened hands will help.

Dice the tofu into 1cm pieces and shallow fry in hot vegetable oil until you have golden cubes that are crispy on the outside and custardy on the inside. Set to one side and try not to eat them all.

Finely chop the ginger, garlic and chillies then dice the onions, carrot, green pepper and chestnut mushrooms. You’re looking for uniformity of size in this dish, so try to chop them to a similar size as your tofu pieces.
Slice your cucumber in strips and peel your lettuce so that you have large leafy cups.

Mix together the wet ingredients (the two soy sauces and the two vinegars) and season with black pepper.

Now you’ve done all the prep you’re ready to cook.

In a large pan, fry the garlic, ginger and chillies in some oil until they have softened and smell brilliant.

Add in the onion and saute until softened. Add in the carrot, mushrooms and green pepper and stir until everything is cooked and looks good. Add in the fried tofu cubes and stir to mix in.
Sprinkle over the pinch of sugar and then add in your soy mixture bit by bit until you have a good covering (no need to use it all, you don’t want to swamp your mixture). If it still looks pale add in some more dark soy.

Serve the mixture in your lettuce wraps topped with the cucumber, cashews and a good drizzle of hoisin. Wrap up and eat messily.

(the filling mixture)

(the mouthful)

Cucumber Kimchi

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:37:00 +0100

(Fresh Cucumber Kimchi being made)

I wrote about vegetarian kimchi a few weeks ago, but I thought it might be helpful to give a more detailed version of what substitutes can be made so that you can avoid fish sauce.

Cucumber Kimchi is probably the easiest and cheapest kimchi to make, and you can eat it after 15 minutes, instead of waiting for several days like you need to with cabbage kimchi. It’s also a really handy pickle to have in the fridge for lunches and side dishes, and goes a surprisingly long way. This recipe is an adapted version of David Chang’s.

Ingredients
Sugar
Salt
Cucumber
Radishes
Chilli flakes
Light Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce
Rice vinegar
Spring onion
Onion
Ginger
Garlic

Recipe
Thinly slice 1 large cucumber and place in a bowl. Stir in 1½ teaspoons of sugar and ½ teaspoon of coarse sea salt. Leave for 15 minutes and then drain off any excess water that the cucumbers let out.

Meanwhile, mix together 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt, 1½ tablespoons of chilli flakes, a big chunk of ginger (cut into matchsticks), 4 gloves of garlic (thinly sliced), 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and a dash of dark soy (these are the replacement ingredients).

Combine the cucumbers and the mixture, adding in 1 spring onion (cut into matchsticks), ¼ normal onion (thinly sliced or mandolined) and a handful of thinly sliced radish.

Mix again and leave for 15 minutes before eating or store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

You can adapt this recipe to your own preferences - up the amount of ginger for something more fragrant or cut down on chilli if you’re having wimpy guests over for tea.

Serve over rice or noodles, as a side dish or just eat whilst standing next to the open fridge.

(a much milder version we made recently)

Baked Eggs Florentine

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 22:48:00 +0100

The day after our wedding reception in Liverpool all I could think about was gorging on eggs, bread and fat (it was a very good party). Luckily, we were staying at the London Carriage Works where their Eggs Florentine comes in a big ramekin and smothered with what I think is Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese. Nom.

I’ve been playing around with making my own version at home, but sadly poaching eggs seems to come with a good deal of risk in our house. I’ve eventually found that soft boiled eggs work just as well and mine always turn out perfectly thanks to Delia http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/eggs/how-to-boil-an-egg.html.
She really knows her eggs.

Recipe

Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil. Pierce the bottoms of two medium-large free range eggs with a clean pin. Have a timer ready and place the eggs into the saucepan using a ladle. After 1 minute (or 1.15 if you have large eggs) turn off the heat and place a lid on the pan. Leave for 6 minutes for a runny yolk/ set white. If you have very large eggs leave for another 30 seconds.

Whilst the eggs are cooking, wilt a large handful of spinach in a pan. Add a big knob of butter and season with salt and pepper. Place the spinach in a good sized, ovenproof individual ramekin.

Once the eggs are ready, take them from the pan and place into a bowl of cold water. Peel the eggs (it’s easier if you do this under the water and start at the rounded end that you pierced earlier).

Place the eggs into the ramekin on top of the spinach. Cover the whole dish in a good cheese of your choice - anything strong and melty will do the job. Place under a hot grill until the cheese is golden and bubbly. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

This is what my version of baked eggs florentine looks like, served with a homemade lemon roll.

The perfect hangover breakfast.

Purple Asparagus

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:06:08 +0100

It’s been a funny year for asparagus. Bad weather delayed the British season by two weeks, which had me tearing my hair out back at the start of May. Happily though, this means that the season is only just ending and you can still grab a bunch if you’re quick. Most shops are starting to run out of it now, but yesterday I hunted some down in M&S - a British purple variety, which I’d never seen before.

Apparently, purple asparagus is higher in sugar and lower in fibre than the green or white stuff - but it looked pretty, so I bought it. Only the skin is purple, so I shaved mine down to get a nice contrast. Asparagus doesn’t normally need to be shaved, but it helps if you’ve got a particular woody batch.

Disappointingly, the purple hue washed out in the boil a little, even though I like to almost undercook my asparagus. It wasn’t a sweet as I expected either, but it was fresh and tasty. I put my spears with an avocado salad and silently sobbed my way through mouthfuls. I’ll miss you British Asparagus season.

Västerbottensost mini-loaves

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 23:06:40 +0100

A few weeks ago I made these little beauties - mini loaves made with Västerbottensost, which is a lovely Swedish cheese. I followed Bertinet’s standard bread recipe from Dough, and worked in about 100grams of the cheese, which tastes a bit like a tangier, but softer parmesan. There’s a lot of resting and proving in this recipe, but it’s worth the wait.

To make the standard white bread dough:
500 grams of strong white bread flour
350 grams of water (it needn’t be warm, and is best weighed rather than measured in a jug)
5 grams of dried yeast (10 grams if you’ve been lucky enough to find fresh)
10 grams of sea salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (no need to soak your yeast or any faff like that). You might worry that it’s too watery, but trust me, it’s absolutely fine.

Once mixed, tip the dough out onto a clean work surface. DON’T flour the surface - this adds too much flour to the recipe and your dough will become stodgy. I used to make this mistake all the time.

Start to work the dough. Bertinet uses the french fold technique and it works for me. It’s easy and quite fun and consists of slapping the dough onto your surface and stretching it back.

Here’s a video of @topfife using the French Fold: http://kneadbymouth.posterous.com/baguette
Or just watch Bertinet do it a bit faster on Saturday Kitchen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHQSNuy9krk&feature=player_detailpage#t=209s
You’re looking to make the bread quite elastic-y and stretchy. It should take about 6 minutes.

Now put the dough into a bowl (you can lightly flour the bowl if you like at this stage, but semolina is better), cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove. I use our kitchen window if it’s sunny. If it’s not I stick on the radiator underneath. Leave for 1 hour.

**

Turn the dough out onto a surface and flatten out. Work in the grated cheese by rolling and folding. Ensure it’s evenly distributed and leave to rest for a further 30mins

Divide the dough into equal pieces, fold and shape into balls and place into mini-loaf tins (or shape into buns/rolls). Leave for about 60-90mins, or until the dough has doubled in volume.
Preheat your oven to 210°C (gas mark 6). Bake the loaves for 15-20mins until golden brown. They should make a hollow noise when you tap them.

Leave to cool on a rack and eat up.

Fougasse
**At this stage, you can make a Fougasse pretty quickly by splitting your dough in half and shaping into two leaves. Dust with semolina and bake on an oven tray or pizza stone for 15 minutes. You’ll end up with something deceptively impressive looking: