New Toy!

Impulse buy alert!  It was a very modest silicone flower shaped mould from Lidl.  This is great for eggs and pancakes!  I shall chronicle my journey for the perfect flower egg with a perfectly centred pollen yolk.  This is much harder than it sounds!

My first attempt was so pathetic that I didn't bother to take a picture.  This is my second attempt which was slightly better but the yolk was off centre so I broke it.  It produced a rather lovely marbling effect and looked pretty with my ketchup splodge.  The mould isn't perfect, liquid does leak outside the shape so I need to press it down more or just trim them off.

Fried Egg

Voila!

Quorn Mince

I wanted to make a mince that would go well with mashed potatoes and lashings of gravy.  It was important for me to make it more brown and not red so I avoided using tinned tomatoes in case it was too bolognaisey.  I had to use my arsenal of herbs and spices to make it tasty.  You can make this mix into a Sheepless Pie by putting the mash on top and topping with cheese and sticking it in the oven until bubbly.

I got the idea of using Marmite in cooking from Fiona Beckett.  I remember borrowing her book a few years ago and recently borrowed this one.  Sadly, it didn't inspire me to cook anything new but it did remind me about the Marmite thing.  Beyond Baked Beans Budget Cookbook

Makes 4-5 portions

Ingredients:

2tbsp corn oil
1/2 large white Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, destringed, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 thick slices of root ginger
1/2 pt hot water with 2tsp gravy granules
1 peeled carrot, finely chopped
2 peeled and deseeded tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 pt hot water with 1/2 tsp Marmite
300g Quorn Mince
1 bay leaf

(season to your taste)
1tsp rosemary
1tsp salt
plenty of black pepper
1 level tsp kalonji seeds
2 tsp Maggi liquid seasoning

Method:

1. Heat a large saucepan/cooking vessel.  Put in the oil and fry the onions until soft and translucent.  Then add the celery, garlic and ginger.  Fry until celery is softening.

2. Put the kettle on and make the gravy.  Add this liquid to the pan and add carrots.

3. Add the tomatoes and the marmite mixture.

4. Add the Quorn mince and a bay leaf.

5. Cook for about 20mins.  Season with the herbs and spices to your taste.

Review:

I ate a portion from just tasting it to see if it was seasoned enough.  I've got some instant mash and Bisto to go with it for those lazy days.  I will report back after the brother test.  I was really pleased with how it looks though.  I refrained from adding Worcestershire sauce in order to keep it truly vegetarian.

Celery Slaw

Cheese and celery dressed generously in mayonnaise and black pepper inside a buttered crusty baguette.  I didn't have any bread so I decided to make a sort of coleslaw with celery.  I have heard of celery slaw but have never made it before so here is something I made.

I just want to thank Sue, my childhood best friend's mum.  She helped inspire me to cook.  Sue put sultanas in her homemade coleslaw and that is the magic ingredient that sets her coleslaw apart from the shop bought kind.

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients:

2 stalks of celery, destringed and chopped
1 large carrot, grated
50g extra mature cheddar, chopped small
A handful of sultanas
A squeeze of lemon juice
3 tbsp mayonnaise (I like my full fat Hellmann's)
A few shakes of kalonji seeds
Black pepper

Method:

Just add ingredients into a bowl and mix.  I was probably too generous with the mayonnaise but adjust to your taste.

Review:

A traditional coleslaw has some onion in it.  I didn't want to faff around crying and chopping an onion so I put in my new fancy ingredient; kalonji seeds instead and it added a nice savoury onioniness to the salad.  I ate this for two lunches in a row served with some Choice Grain crackers.  The carrots made the mayonnaise go an orangy colour which makes it look like you made the dressing yourself :)