Long time no see! I've been very busy over the last week and a half and I haven't been able to post any recipes, that's not to say I haven't been cooking though, a girl has to eat!
So, without further ado here is what I cooked up for our Mothering Sunday Lunch
Starter: Celeriac Bisque
Main: Mushroom Roast
Side: Cauliflower & Broccoli Mornay
Celeriac Bisque
The soup was as creamy as creamy can be, and was the most easiest soup to make. I followed my theory of the "one" soup recipe, which uses one of each ingredient. You can never go wrong as everything you add is one of something.
Ingredients: Serves 8-10 as a starter
1 Glug of Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Vitalite
1 Potato, cubed
1 Onion, chopped
1 Garlic clove, chopped
1 Celery stick, chopped
1 Celeriac, cubed
1 Litre Vegetable stock
Salt & Pepper
Method
Add the oil and vitalite to a large saucepan and melt the vitalite over a low heat.
Add all the vegetables and fry over a low heat for about 10 minutes until they start to soften.
Add the vegetable stock and bring everything to a boil, add salt & pepper to taste and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Transfer to a food processor or blender and puree until silky smooth. Serve with a sprig of flat leaf parsley.
My Dad even remarked that this 'soup' was the best tasting vegetable soup he had ever tried! Now that is high praise indeed.
Mushroom Roast
For the main course and wanted to make a roast (it was Sunday after all) but I wanted to create something a little different than I had previously. I've always found that lentils work well in a roast and they seem to hold the mixture together. I paired green lentils with mushrooms for this particular roast and the flavour was fabulous, rich and earthy. I must admit though, when I make this again I will try using two flax eggs, to see if the mixture is firmer. Not that anything was wrong with the roast but it wasn't the easiest to slice.
Ingredients: Serves 6-8
1 Aubergine (about 150g)
1 Tbsp Flax Seeds, ground
3 Tbsp Water
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Onion, finely diced
2 Garlic cloves, minced2 Sprigs rosemary, stalks discarded
10 Sage leaves, shredded
350g Chesnut mushrooms*
2 Tsp Porcini powder
5g Fresh parsley, chopped
½ Tsp Herbamare
1 Tin Green Lentils, rinsed & drained
55g Breadcrumbs
2 Mushrooms, sliced
* I used my food processor to dice the mushrooms
Method
Wrap the aubergine in silver foil and bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside until it is cool enough to handle. Remove the skin and put the flesh into a bowl and mash.
While the aubergine is baking, prepare your flax egg, by mixing the ground flax seeds with the water and set aside to 'gel'. If you want a firmer roast I would use two flax eggs, so you will need to double these two ingredients.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the onions for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.
Add the rosemary and sage and give the mixture a good stir before adding the mushrooms. Saute for another 5 minutes, then add the porcini powder, herbamare and parsley.
Add the lentils to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes, stiring regularly. Add the aubergine and stir to combine and break up any large chunks of aubergine. Add the breadcrumbs and stir through. Finally add the flax egg(s) and give everything one last stir to ensure the mixture is thoroughly combined.
I find that using a 'loaf tin liner' is the best method for transferring a loaf from the tin to plate, but if you haven't got any then spritz the inside of your tin with a little amount of olive oil.
Line the bottom of the loaf tin with the sliced mushrooms and top with the mushroom & lentil mixture. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before transferring the loaf to a serving plate. The easiest way to do this is by using a loaf tin liner, which easily peals away from the sides of the loaf and then using a spatula transfer the loaf from the lining paper to a plate .
Cauliflower & Broccoli Mornay
I decided to keep the lunch as two courses and rather than make a special pudding I made a side to eat with the roast. I'd made some cashew nut cheese earlier in the week to use in this recipe but you could use any non dairy cheese.
Ingredients: Serves 8 as a side
1 Cauliflower
1 Head of broccoli
2 Cartons Soy cream (500ml)
1 Onion
3 Heaped Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tsp Garlic granules
1 Tsp Porcini powder
½ Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
½ Tsp Mustard Powder
85g Homemade cashew cheese
Method
Grease an oven proof dish with a little vitalite.
Thickly slice the cauliflower and broccoli and layer in the oven proof dish. I started with a layer of cauliflower and managed to get three layers of cauliflower and 2 layers of broccoli, but it depends on the size of your vegetables.
Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients bar the cashew cheese (or other cheese alternative). Stirring constantly bring the pan to a simmer and then pour over the vegetable layers.
Grate the cashew nut cheese and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 40 minutes, you may need to put silver foil over the top for the last 10 minutes to stop it from burning.
Serve the loaf and mornay with roast potatoes, carrots & parsnips and a scattering of garden peas for colour.
