Category Archives: Vegan

Recipes, Sweet, Vegan

Bunoelos – Mexican dough

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Bunoelos, lime syrup & tropical sorbet
Bunoelos, lime syrup & tropical sorbet

For about 20 units. Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 150g Self-rising flour
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 100ml water
  • Zest of 1 whole lime

Method:

Sieved flour and lime
Sieved flour and lime

Mix everything in the bowl. Sieve the flour in a large bowl, add the salt and the lime. Mix well, then, add the water and work the dough to obtain a lump free stretchy dough.

Sticky dough
Sticky dough

Cover the dough and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

Meantime, heat about 300ml of vegetable oil. If you’ve got a chip pan, use it. What we are looking for, is to have enough oil so the dough ball will rise to the surface within seconds after being dropped in the oil. The oil should be really hot.

Dough in oilTo test that the oil is hot. Drop in a very small piece of dough. If it stay on the bottom of the pan. Leave it to heat well and do another test.

Once the oil is hot. Cut the dough in small pieces and put them into the oil… 5-10 piece at a time depending on the size of your pan. Fry for 3-5 minutes until the balls are brown all over. PS: You won’t be able to use a knife to cut the dough… you will have to be creative with a spoon or your fingers… It is a very sticky dough.

Using a skimmer (that big cooking spoon with holes like a colander) remove the now browned dough from the oil and put them on tissue/absorbing paper. Repeat until all done.

Can be served warm just rolled in granulated sugar.

Laid on the lime syrup
Laid on the lime syrup

I served mine with a lime syrup. The recipe will be in the next post. But you can also pipe jam or hazelnut chocolate in the individual dough ball…

This recipe was created as part of a Mexican menu made for www.MadeByHortense.com. Enjoy!

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Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan

Homemade chili croutons

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Baked croutons

Ingredients:

    • 5 slices of brown bread – or any left overs bread
    • Chili flakes
    • Black pepper
    • Salt
    • Olive oil
Bread slices
Bread slices

Method:

Heat the oven at 180°C.

Cut the bread in squares like on the photo. Place on the oven tray and season with chilli, salt, pepper, oil. Mix well and bake for 15 minutes at 180°C. Don’t forget to stir as you bake. This will allow all the sides to dry out and crisp.

Making croutons is one of the best ways to use bread that is about to go off. They will keep for 3-4 weeks in a sealed container.

Another version of the crouton can be used a replacement for cereals. Mix about half a teaspoon of sugar in 1 table spoon water… drizzle the mix over the bread cubes, toss and bake dry for 15-20 minutes at 180°C.

For the cereal version, feel free to add flavouring in the water/sugar mix… a drop of cinnamon or vanilla essence would be great!

Enjoy.

Serving suggestion
Serving suggestion

I used my savoury croutons to finish off the soup posted in the previous recipe. And for the cereal version? Just add milk.

PS: original recipe created as part of the foodbank menu on http://www.MadeByHortense.com

 

 

 

 

Recipes, Sweet, Vegan

Tinned tropical fruits sorbet

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Tropical fruits sorbet
                                          Tropical fruits sorbet

I chose to do a tropical sorbet because it is very practical and innovative way to use tinned fruit. I find that tinned fruits often have an after taste. In a sorbet form the after taste disappears.

Ingredients for 500ml sorbet:

Ingredients for the sorbet
                            Ingredients for the sorbet
  • 1 small tropical fruits tin 410g
  • 1 small carton Guava juice 200ml
  • 1 table spoon sugar granules
  • Zest of ½ an unwaxed lime

Method:

This sorbet was made the old fashion way; a fork, patience, and elbow grease. This version is for people without ice-cream maker.

Open the tropical fruits tin, drain the fruits and discard the syrup.

drained fruits
                                                Drained fruits

Using a hand blender, liquidise the fruits and add the guava juice. Add the sugar and zest. Mix well until the sugar granules melt.

Blended sorbet mix
                                           Blended sorbet mix

Pour the mix in a plastic container with lid and place it in the middle section of the freezer for 1 hour 30 minutes.

After that, bring out the container and break the ice/sorbet crystals that are starting to form with a fork or a hand blender. I used a fork throughout as I wanted the lime zest specks to still be visible at the end. So, mix well and return the container in the freezer. If you do care about the lime specks, just use the hand blender instead.

Breaking the sorbet crystals with a fork
                          Breaking the sorbet crystals with a fork

Repeat the process 2 more times before the sorbet is ready to serve.

If you are not serving it right away, after breaking the ice/sorbet crystals 3 times, return the bowl in the freezer. If you serve the sorbet 5, 10 hours later or the next day, take the bowl out of the freezer 15 minutes before hand. That way, the sorbet won’t be too hard to scoop out.

DSC01592

Serving suggestion
                                            Serving suggestion

Enjoy!

x.

PS: this foodbank related recipe was part of current series I am presenting on Croydon Radio. For further information go to http://www.MadeByHortense.com. The Sorbet is in the Mexican menu.       

 

Cold dishes, Recipes, Sweet, Vegan

Pumpkin seed and oats cake

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Ingredients for 7 – 8 portions:

Oat, sugar and tinned fruits are from the parcel
  • 100g pumpkin seeds
  • 100g breakfast oats
  • 100 self raising flour
  • 50g sugar
  • salt
  • 50g dairy free butter – melted
  • 200ml rice milk
  • 175g mandarin segments
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Method:

Heat the oven at 200C.

Drain the mandarin segments and set them aside. Do not throw away the syrup.

Using a blender, blend together at once, the pumpkin seeds, oats, 40g sugar, melted butter, 200ml milk. Once that is done, pour the mix in a bowl and sieve in the self raising flour and the baking powder. Add in a pinch of salt and mix until the batter is completely lumps free.

If you’ve got ramekins, grease them then spoon in each of them 3 to 4 tablespoons of the cake mix.

Place a segment of mandarin in some of the ramekins before putting them in the oven at 200C for 25 minutes. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

In the meantime, prepare the mandarin sauce with a pinch of dried ginger powder.  Melt the remaining 10g of sugar in as small milk pan. Let it go slightly golden then add in the mandarin segments with ginger and 3 table spoons of the mandarin syrup. Keep stirring until the liquid has evaporated and the remaining liquid is slightly heavy. This should take about 5 minutes.

The Mandarin sauce

The Mandarin sauce

Serve as suggested below and allow the cake to soak in a bit of the sauce. Enjoy.

This… is egg free!

 

Hot dishes, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan

Vegan Stir fried rice

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Ingredients for 4 portions:

  • 250g white rice
  • 250g broccoli
  • 100g aubergine
  • 50g leek
  • 50g celery
  • 1 and half fresh tomato
  • 1 onion
  • Garlic granules
  • 1 chilli pepper (optional)
  • Soy sauce
  • Vegetable oil
  • Dry lemongrass powder
  • Salt

Method:

Precook the rice following the instructions on the package.

Floret the broccoli, cut the aubergines and tomatoes, cut the celery and leek, dice the onion, set all that aside.

In a wok, heat 3 tablespoons of oil, then fry onions, aubergine, Leek and celery at once for 4 minutes stirring continuously.  Now add the tomatoes, broccoli, chilli and lemon grass. Stir, then add the precooked rice and 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce. Mix well, adjust the seasoning, stir from bottom to top of the wok for 5 minutes. Take away from the heat and serve. Enjoy.

Serving suggestion
Serving suggestion
Hot dishes, Recipes, Vegan

Split peas and parsnip chips

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Ingredients for 3 portions:

  • 200g split peas (green & yellow mix)
  • 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 green pepper
  • 2 parsnips
  • 10g fresh ginger
  • 1 small onion
  • Garlic granules
  • Paprika
  • Vegetable oil
  • Salt

Method:

Soak the peas for 2 hours before the cooking.

Chop the onions and pepper, grate the ginger. Peel and cut the parsnip into chips. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and brown the onions for 2 minutes, then add the peas, ginger, salt, garlic and 200ml of water cover and leave the peas to soften for 20 minutes. Don’t forget to stir from time to time. After the 20 minutes, add the peppers, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, 200ml water, adjust the seasoning and cover for another 8-10 minutes on medium heat.

Now on to the parsnips chip. They are to be treated the same as potatoes chips, so feel free to use your regular chip pan. Frying for 5 to 7 minutes suffice to have them cooked through from raw. Add a slice of onion in the chip oil to add more taste to the chips.

Once the chips are ready, salt and serve.

Remember. The colder the chips get before serving, wrinklier they get become. Enjoy

Recipes, Sweet, Uncategorized, Vegan

Golden coconut thins

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Ingredients:

  • 100g desiccated coconut
  • 150g sugar
  • 10 hazelnut – roasted and crushed
  • Salt

Method:

Spray a bit of oil on the flat tray that will be used to cool down the thins. The light spread of oil will prevent the  thin from sticking to the used surface.

Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts

Mix the crushed hazelnuts to the coconut.

Melt the sugar on high heat, then stir until it becomes golden and really clear.

Melted sugar
Melted sugar

Add a pinch of salt to the melted sugar, then put in the coconut and hazelnut.  Mix very quickly with a spatula until the sugar is completely absorbed. This process should take 1 minute max… it has to be done very quickly.

The mix is flattened and scored
The mix is flattened and scored

Remove from the hob and lay the mix very flat on a dish prepared for it. Using a rolling pin or the back of the spatula, continue to flatten the mix, then create tracks as above on the picture.

The best ones to bite are the ones that are not compact
The best ones to bite are the ones that are not compact

The tracks you have created will allow you to easily break off the thins once the mix has cooled down and hardened.

If you rather make balls and have a high heat tolerance. You will have to move very quickly as the mix can cool down and harden within a minute… The balls can only be rolled by hand.

...And here is what I made few months earlier... in the dark

…And here is what I made few months earlier… in the dark

Note: melted sugar can be really painful if not handled with care. No children should be around when you are doing these thins.

Adding salt to the melted sugar breaks down its sweetness.

Hot dishes, Recipes, Vegan

Vegan Chilli con carne

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Chilli con carne served with barley

Chilli con carne served with barley

Ingredients for 4 portions:

  • 200g Barley
  • 2 kidney beans tin
  • 100g mince soya meat
  • 1 tinned tomato
  • 50g leek
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 scotch bonnet (chilli pepper)
  • 1 teaspoon of Paprika powder, coriander powder & cumin powder
  • 3 garlic cloves

Method:

Dehydrated Soya mince
Dehydrated Soya mince

Start by soaking the soya mince in boiled water for 10 minutes. When rehydrated, the mince will double in volume. Drain, squeeze out the water and set aside. Also put the barley to soak in cold water for 20 – 30 minutes.

Blended condiments, hydrated soya, kidney beans
Blended condiments, hydrated soya, kidney beans

Chop and blend 1/4 onion with the tomato, leek, the chilli pepper and garlic cloves. Set aside.

Finely chop the rest of onion and fry it in a sauce pan with 3 table spoons of oil. Once the onion is browned, add the now rehydrated soya mince and with salt and black pepper. Stir fry for 3 minutes until the mince takes a bit of colour. Now add the blended ingredients and stir well with a spatula, then cover for 10 minutes.

Remember to stir from time to time to avoid burns. All you should hear by this time is frying noises from the pan. This means it is the time to add the kidney beans with the coriander, paprika and cumin. Stir, then pour in 400ml of water. Cover the pan and leave it to simmer for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, rinse the barley and place it on the hob with 250ml of water, 1 table spoon of oil and salt.Living the pot uncovered on high heat, allow the water to evaporate for 20 minutes. Once the water has evaporated, fluff the barley and add another 10ml of water, then cover. This time, cook on low heat for 10 minutes to complete the cooking process with steam only. By this time the chilli corn should be ready.  Serve and enjoy.

Serving suggestion
Serving suggestion

Barley is a good alternative for those who do not like rice, cooking it without soaking beforehand can take up to 80 minutes, it is therefore best to soak it before hand to save on energy.

Recipes, Sweet, Vegan

Closed pie with pear and dark chocolate

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Light, fluffy, not too sweet pear pie

Ingredients for 5 portions:

  • 100g Dark chocolate
  • Tin pear
  • 100g almond powder
  • 100g sugar
  • 1 lemon zest
  • 10ml corn or any vegetable oil
  • 1 Jus-Rol puff pastry sheet

Method:

Preheat the oven at 180C.

Drain the halved pears and cut them in 2 making each piece a quarter. Dry every quarter with paper towel and set them aside.

Dry the pear quarters

Mix the almond powder, lemon zest and sugar, together and set the mix aside.

Now prepare the chocolate sauce in the same way as for the sponge and orange sandwich (search the blog).

Spray some vegetable oil on the oven baking tray and lay the puff pastry flat on it.

Pears diped in chocolate

Cover the pear quarters in chocolate and gently place them length ways on the pastry sheet.

Now, cover the pears with the almond, zest and sugar mix like on the third photo on the top.  All you have to do now is just fold the pastry over the pears to create an envelope.

With a knife or fork score the edges of the pastry to seal the envelop. Using a baking brush, gently brush the top of the pie with some vegetable oil before placing it in the oven for 40 minutes at 180C.

Once the pie is ready, let it cool down for at least 10 minutes before serving. The dark chocolate can be very bitter for children, so, serve it to them with an ice cream or a fruit sauce. Enjoy!

.....mmmmm....
…..mmmmm….