Category: zen kitchen news

1. Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe

   Posted on 12:00pm Saturday 6th Feb 2021

   

    

   This is a lovely moist vegan cake.  Really popular when the cafe was open.  I'vr just got around to making another one for home.  I'm afraid that I am a 'to tatse' kind of cook so don'e put too many measurements except when they ar neccessary.  Here goes:

   You will need:

   500 gm self raising flour or gluten free SR flour
   200 gm cocnut oil
   2 teaspoons Baking powder
   1 teaspoon Bi carb
   400gm (approx) caster sugar
   A little milk of your choice (almond is nice)
   Lemon Zest
   Lemon juice
   A little icing sugar

   Baking tin (this is for a large cake 1/2 ingredients for a smaller one

   Heat oven to 180 / gas 6

   Start with the cocnut oil and begin to soften it with the flour.  This is a hand exercise or mixer - don't be tempted to soften in the mic.
   Now add the sugar powders and lemon zest into the mix and  thoroughly mix once again.  This is a really important part to make it rise well.

   Next add the oil, lemon juice  (you will need more than you think) and mix adding the milk until the mixture is like a thick cream

   Scape the mixture into a prepared tin and cook for aprox. 40 mins (30 is using half quantity).  Testing occasionally  with a scewer  until it comes out almost dry.  You want a little bit of stickiness to preserve the moisture but not so that it streaks on the scewer.

   Take out  and cook

   Meanwhile mic a little icing sugar with water, it needs to be runny and add lemon juice to taste.  We want this mix to soak into the cake so it should  be see through and runny and will leave a soft glaze on top. 

   Next take the scewer and poke holes into the top of the cake while it is still warm.  Now pour the icing mix over the tip of the cake letting it soak into the holes that you made.  Jeep topping up until it is saturated and make sure there is an even coating across the top.  Leave to dry into a soft sheen.

   It you want to ice the top of the cake now is the time to add a thicker mix of icing.

   Scrummy - put the kettle on and try a piece.

   I

2. Curryflower

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 27th Sep 2018

   - so .. as I have already planned some exciting dishes for tomorrow which has been cancelled and bought in a lot of the ingredients I have decided to make it tonight and let you into the secret so that you can enjoy it yourself if you want to.

   I love cauliflower and I love curried cauliflower so I have created a dish that is not cauliflower cheese but is a good substitute with a bit more bite.

   ???? And by the way - if you are putting a lot of effort and care into preparing a dish why not make it organic.

   You will need a cauliflower cooked whole and trimmed

   Here is what I did:
   Gently fry some chopped onions and crushed garlic with a chopped red pepper (mine was donated from my friends garden), a little chopped fresh ginger, curry leaves, cumin seeds, a little powdered fennel (not too much as it is really sweet) any other herbs or spices that you feel right.
   Add cashew nut milk and simmer for a while. Blend smooth. Then add some creamed cashew nuts (or any other kind of nut bearing in mind the milk you have used). At this stage I sprinkled a little tumeric into the pot - hence the colout.  Stir until thickened. Season to taste. 
   Put the cauliflower in a dish and pour over the sauce. If you pour it slowly it gives time for the sauce to soak into the cauliflower. It tastes very yummy. Warm or brown in the oven if you need to.
   Let me know if you try it. And those who were expecting to be eating tomorrow I hope this goes some way to compensating.

3. Sprouts that Shout

   Posted on 12:00pm Friday 21st Jul 2017

   Sprouts That Shout

    

   Sprucing up your sprouts is a great idea as those little balls of green are packed full with essential vitamins and minerals to protect our health in the winter, yet not to everyones liking.

   We tried something on the solstice that had people going back for more. Give it a try and let us know how you like the suggestions:

   Creamy sprouts

   There is something about raosting sprouts that seems to chainge their flavour.  This recipe involves Steaming the sprouts until they are almost ready to eat and them popping them in the over on a medium heat with a little olive oil and some finely chopped onions until they are beginning to brown and the onions are clear.

   Remove them from the oven and place in a saucepan with double cream to taste.  Season with salt, black pepper and a little nutmeg.

   Roast Sprouts and mushrooms

   Similar idea

   Roast the half cooked sprouts with finely chopped onion, chopped mushroom and crushed garlic.  Cook until the sprouts are beginning to brown.  Season with salt and black peppet.

    

   Enjoy your sprouts.

4. Hummus - make it

   Posted on 2:42pm Saturday 28th May 2016

   Hummus
   
   

   

   Home made Hummus has no comparison with the  commercial stuff.  it's like trying to compare real coffee with the powdered instant sort.
   
   

   And it is so easy to make that I don't know why they ever sell any in the supermarkets

    

   Here's how.
   
   

   The short cut version:
   
   

   Take a tin of chick peas and drain the liquid but retain
   
   

   Put chick peas in a mixing bowl. add one table spoon of tahini, a good squeeze of lemon and some zest. a clove of garlic a little olive oil

   Blend everything together, if it is dry then add some of the drained liquid or more oil . Season  There you have it done.
   
   

   To make it even more special add to the ingredients a small handful of fresh herbs.
   
   

   More ideas:
   
   

   If you want to be extra authentic you can use dried chick peas, soak overnight and boil then simmer until tender DON'T THROW THE WATER AWAY*
   
   

   If you want to make your own tahini it is just sesame seeds roasted and ground with pestal and motar into olive oil with a little seasoning

   You can add chilli instead of herbs

   Balsamic vinegar instead of some of the liquid and a thousand other things - just experiment and use your imagination.
   
   

   * Excellent for soups and stock:  The flavour of commercial stock tends to influence the flavour of the dish you are making whereas the pure water from veg or chick peas just provides a backdrop for your dish =- this is especially relevant with soups.

5. Soup of Specialness

   Posted on 1:32pm Saturday 21st May 2016

   It's not often you can get it.  Certainly it is something that you can't get in tin.  The taste is like a velvety.wholesome tantalising and delicious sensation.  To top it all you could well be taking a dose of nutritional supplements with every spoonful.

   What is this soup of Specialness.  Why it's nettle soup of course!

   Once you have a taste for it you are more than prepared to dedicate all the time and effort and face the very possible odd sting here and there to get at it.  It has a short season and we're in it right now. When you pick a lot of it you begin to notice the slight difference in taste depending on where you picked it.

   So if you would like to become an afficionado of nettle soup then here's how to go about it.

   First identify which weed is a nettle.  Check it out online.

   Look for nettles that are in places that would be difficult for dogs and other animals to access for their (not to put too fine a point on it) toileting.

   Pick the top of the stem so you are getting fresh young leaves - they taste better.

   To pick you will need to wear rubber style gardening gloves.  Sometimes I have used scissors and cut the stem then very carefully trapped it in the scissors and dropped into a carrier bag.  You will most likely get stung somewhere on your forage but it will wear off eventually.  I've not tried grabbing a handful which is said to not sting.

   Getting them ready for soup:

   Empty the contents into a washing up bowl filled with cold water and swish them about to clean off any unwanted bits.  Take a colander full and rinse thoroughly under the tap, continue until all is rinsed.

   

   You need a pan ful of nettle as it soon diminishes.

   Now to the cooking stage

   Soft fry one medium onion in a large saucepan.

   Add one peeled potato and water or any stock you have from vegetables you have cooked (don't use concentrated stock as it alters the taste)

   Add the nettles by cutting the leaves off the stalk and popping in the pan - Dont touch them use scissors.

   You will see that they will almost immediately wither. Add one leaf of spring green cabbage  and a crushed clove of garlic.

   Add a handful of fresh  herbs such as sage, parsley, rosemary, oregano etc do not use a lot of one herb.  This will act as the background stock taste.

   Cook until the potato is soft then liquidise.  Add seasoning to taste

    

   The potato is there to thicken the soup as it would be very watery otherwise.

   Eat and enjoy. Become addicted.

   Read this blog about the benefits of nettle and feel a little smug

   http://www.mindandbodybury.co.uk/blog/read_76178/good-to-get-nettled.html

    

    

6. Why some Non Meat Eaters are still like sheep

   Posted on 1:14pm Tuesday 22nd Mar 2016

   Why non meat eaters are still like sheep
   
   

   No doubt you have seen some of the mind manipulation techniques on TV programmes where the 'stooge' is answering questions along with about a dozen other people.  After building up some rapport as everyone answers the questions correctly for one question the rest of the people answer it slighly wrong but all the same  give the same wrong answer and the stooge who happens to come last invariably goes along with the consensus - to fit in with everyone else or for fear of being wrong.
   
   

   You would think that a confident person who was sure of themselves would be  brave enough to stick with what they believed and chance being wrong.
   
   

   However, as far as i am aware, no-one ever does.
   
   

   Idol worship
   
   

   You know that in certain cultures animals are religiously worshipped and protected.  You know that it is a habit worldwide of making symbols to represent what is important to us, some have deep meaning others are religiously significant.  But those symbols are like a logo for a belief or commitment.  If you see a cross it's Christian (don't shoot me if it also represents something else) everyone knows the green leaf of vegetarianism etc
   
   

   The V people - non meat eaters

    

   I am one of them but I am confused.  When you take a piece of processed soya or pea protein or whatever and mould it into the shape of something that you have made a conscious decision to give up eating, what are you doing?.
   
   

   I don't think the nutritional value of the product is enhanced by its shape (but I could be wrong)

    

   I know that hours of research and manipulation try to produce a taste as close as possible to the shape thus furthering the impression of eating the real thing - the idol.
   
   

   The only explanation I can think is  to conform to the rejected norm.
   
   

   I am jusr very confused about why it is so important for people who don't eat meat to buy into pretending that they are eating meat.. 
   . 

   I don't think it is worshipping an idol as generally you don't go ahead and eat them
   
   It's like there is something missing if we don't have the compensation of pretend meat.  That doesn't make sense. 

   
    If you don't smoke you don't go around pretending to smoke unless you have a problem with it.  Is there something I have missed are some people addicted to meat and find trouble giving it up.  As is becoming more and more accepted these days - even by the pharmaceutical and mediacal giants, addiction is mainly a psychological state then what are they addicted to.

    

   Why do we have to have meat free sausages, bacon, fillets, burgers, mince, fish fingers and more.  Why can't we have the 'bacon' tasty s it is for some people in rounds and by a different name.  Why can't we revolutionise our eating patterns instead of playing copy cat.

    

   What IS going on?
   
   

   Logically if you decide not to eat animals for hraalth reasons then I can see nothing strange  about eating 'healthier pretend' anmials.
   
   

   However if you are eating vegetation to avoid harming animals and to protest about the way animals are farmed then to me it's not making sense.
   
   

   Surely you need to move away from the animal culture os eating.  Someone facebooked a cake made very realistically in the shaped of lifesized baby to be cut up and eaten at a baby shower and the comments were negative - it looks barbaric.
   
   

   Why then are we not concerned about giving out the same message with animals.  Is it because it's only a selected bit of the animal you are pretending to eat
   
   

   I know some people like the taste of meat but honestly the shape doesn;t make the taste and frankly though its 36 years since I tasted meat  can't see it being that authentic.
   
   

   It is more likely that as more people are becoming v's then food manufacturing companies are seeing their profits disappear and are  desperately looking for ways to provide for the relatively new market - and we're , like sheep, all buying into it.
   
   

   It is not only the money but the acceptance that we will eat pretend meat keeping meat on the plate for the meat marketing board too.
   
   

   Lets work towards getting meat off the plate and rejecting the need to eat animals even if it is only pretending. 

    

   It's a little like stopping giving children guns to play cowboys and indians.  They are not real guns but are creating an acceptance of the fight.

    

   (Ohh if quorn or Linda MacCartney get's hold of this they're going to close us down lol)

    

   Time to rethink methinks
   
   

   There are some really tasty meals that you can make very quickly without pretending to eat a piece of animal.  Keep reading for some ideas over the next few weeks.
   

    

   Andrea Lowe
   Zen lounge