A Meal for Vegetarian Pirates and Smugglers

This is my Dad's photo of Mousehole in Cornwall.  

We spent a glorious November week in a cottage on the quay here.
And, if you spend a week by the sea, it makes sense to have a Smuggler/ Pirate meal. This was a kind of 'free for all' with all dishes on the table at the same time. It took a lot of preparation but I had some willing helpers. Some of these recipes were my own but I also trawled the internet for ideas.

The Menu

Pirate Cheeses                 Treasure Map Pizza

    Pastry Treasure Chests     Fruit Trees

        Salmagundi                    Shark Infested Beans

I started by making the filling for the Treasure Chests. This is because it tastes best when it has had time to sit for a while. It can be heated up at the end and placed inside the pastry chests which are cooked in the final 20 minutes before serving.

Then I, with my helpers, started on the prep for the other dishes. The Pirate Cheeses can be made and left until needed, as can the Salmagundi. Don't make the Fruit Trees too soon as you don't want the fruit to discolour.

Pirate Cheeses

My Dad was given responsibility for assembling these. I found the idea on the web. The original used black food colouring but I thought that black olives would be better. Cutting and assembling was a bit fiddly but the end result was worth it.

Ingredients

babybel cheeses

black olives

Method

Cut through the red covering on each of the cheeses. Make sure you don't cut the cheese itself. Remove half. Then, using a sharp knife, cut an eye, eyepatch and mouth for each pirate from the skin of an olive.

Salmagundi

This is, apparently, a traditional meal served to pirates. Recipes vary and there are even some hot versions available. Most writers agree, though that it was a shredded mix of meat and salad. This vegetarian twist on the dish uses what we call 'make believe ham'.

Ingredients

4 Quorn meat free smoked ham slices

1/4 cucumber, de-seeded

2 carrots, peeled

4 lettuce leaves

4 slices cheddar 

1 small onion

Method

Cut and slice all ingredients into strips, apart from the onion, which can be in thin rings.

Mix all together. No dressing needed.

Shark Infested Beans
A bit of fun to accompany the meal.

Ingredients
2 large tins baked beans
3 tortilla chips.
Method
Heat beans just before service and place in a large bowl. (You can make sure that it is in the pan in advance to avoid a rush at the end.)
Arrange tortilla chips to look like sharks.

Fruit Trees
This is another idea I pinched - this time from a children's party post - but we made it using the fruit we had in the fruit bowl and added a bit of cress.

Ingredients
1 banana
1 orange
1 green apple
Method
Slice the banana in half lengthways, then chop into slices.
Cut apple into segments, leaving the skin on.
Peel the orange and cut into segments.
Arrange on plate to make the palm trees and sprinkle cress on the bottom.


Treasure Map Pizza
You can have fun making whatever you want to be on the map.

We even made ships from red and yellow peppers and cocktail sticks
We also covered the serving board with pieces of blue and grey paper, cut from magazine pictures to make the sea surround.

Ingredients/ Method
1 pack cook your own pizza dough (you can, of course, make your own but I used a quick cheat). Make this up according to packet instructions but make into an island shape. Spread with tomato sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.

➤Cook in oven, then add toppings.
Toppings must be ready in advance:
1 red and 1 yellow pepper for the ships (see above)
1 carrot cut into palings for the palisade
6-8 pasta twirls (fusilli), cook until soft but firm. Use as tree trunks, along with flat-leaf parsley for the leaves
pieces of cut olive skin for the path
spring onion leaf for 'X marks the spot'
crumbled tortilla crisps for sand/ rocks

Pastry Treasure Chests

You can put whatever filling you fancy into the pastry chests. I used a creamy quorn and leek mix which is my Mum's favourite. This serves 4 people.

Ingredients
1 300g pack Quorn chicken-style pieces
2tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
300ml vegetable stock
200ml double cream
3tbsp butter
2tbsp flour
75ml milk
2 large leeks, washed and chopped
1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg yolk
Method
Heat oil and 1tbsp butter in a pan and add the onions and leeks.
Cook gently until soft and golden, add the Quorn pieces and then pour over the vegetable stock. Stir well.
In a separate pan heat the remaining butter. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Then add 60ml milk, stirring well to avoid any lumps. Add the cream and continue to cook until the roux is smooth. Then add it to the leek and Quorn mixture.
Bring to the boil to reduce by half and then allow to cool slightly. Season as required.
Keep until needed.
➤About 20 minutes before serving, gently reheat the filling.
Heat oven to 200C/ Gas 6
Cut sheet into four neat rectangles, removing any uneven pieces.
Score a line with a knife, all the way around each rectangle, about 1cm in from the edge. You should be cutting about halfway through the pastry. Place each on a baking tray. Make a lattice pattern on the top of each. Mix egg yolk with a little water and brush over the top. 
Cook pastry for about 15-20 minutes until it rises and you can remove the central panel.
Place hot filling inside and replace the 'lid'.
(This should be the last item before serving)


And then, after all the food was eaten, we tried to play a 'Cornish Smuggler' game. It made cooking six dishes seem easy.