Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Thursday, 18 May 2017
Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest - WALTER MATTHAU
Walter Matthau gave superb performances in The Fortune Cookie, JFK and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. My favourite, however, is The Odd Couple where his portrayal of Oscar is perfectly complemented by Jack Lemmon's Felix.
Here, at a card party he is
serving refreshments:-
Oscar: Who wants food? I
got brown sandwiches and green sandwiches. Which one do you want?
Murray: What’s the green?
Oscar: It’s either very
new cheese or very old meat.
Murray: I’ll take the
brown.
I would make him this
veggie version of a classic, so that he could enjoy a really tasty sandwich.
CLUB SANDWICH
Serves 1 (but can easily be multiplied to serve more)
3 rashers vegetarian bacon
3 slices bread
3 tbsp mayonnaise
4 large crisp lettuce
leaves
2 Quorn turkey-style
slices
1 tomato, sliced thinly
salt and black paper
If bread is very soft it will be better toasted. If so, do this first.
Spread one side of each
slice with mayonnaise.
Arrange two lettuce leaves
on one slice of bread and season.
Place two turkey-style
slices on top of the lettuce.
Top with another slice
of bread, mayonnaise side up.
Arrange remaining lettuce
leaves on top and add tomato slices.
Fry 'bacon' rashers.
Cut ‘bacon’ rashers to fit
and place on top of tomato.
Cover with final slices of
bread, mayonnaise side down.
Cut in half and pierce with long
toothpicks to keep it all together.
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest – ALAN PARTRIDGE
There is no one better
than Alan Partridge to join me for this.
At the famous lunch
with Tony Hayers at the start of I'm Alan Partridge, when he
pitches his ideas for a new TV show, including “Monkey Tennis”, Alan orders a
pasta meal and, not knowing the name of farfalle, asks for ‘action man bow
ties’. Later, he steals the cheese from the restaurant before running out.
This meal uses farfalle
and cheese in his honour.
CHEESY BOW TIES
Ingredients
250g dried farfalle
180g ‘Philadelphia’ or
similar soft cheese
100g grated cheddar
1 onion, chopped
150g mushrooms, finely
sliced
Salt and black pepper
4 slices vegetarian
bacon-style rashers
1tbsp olive oil
40g butter
100ml milk
Serves 2 as a main meal or up to 4 as a snack
Method
Heat salted water in a
saucepan and cook pasta according to packet instructions.
Heat oil and butter in
a large pan.
Fry onions gently
until soft, then add mushrooms and fry until soft and just beginning to brown.
In a separate pan, fry
the ‘bacon’ until crisp. Cut into postage stamp size pieces.
Then mix in with
mushroom mixture.
Spoon all the soft
cheese into pan and add a little milk to soften.
Mix in the cheese and
season.
Drain the
pasta. Add it to the cheese sauce, stirring it through until completely covered.
Serve in small bowls as a snack or on a larger plate as a main meal.
Monday, 8 May 2017
SOFT CHEESE AND CUCUMBER COBS
Serves 4 as a light snack
(1 each)
4 cobs (bread rolls)
140g/ 5oz soft cheese (or
thereabouts – this equates to 8 ‘triangles’)
butter or butter spread
¼ large cucumber
salt and pepper
Slice each cob in half
and spread lightly with butter (or substitute). This is an important step – do
not neglect this as it enables the cheese to be the filling.
Share the soft cheese
between each.
Slice the cucumber as
thinly as you can and place on each half. Season with salt and pepper.
Re-assemble each cob and
cut into two.
DEAR LITTLE POTATO ROASTIES
DEAR LITTLE POTATO
ROASTIES
Ingredients
About 4 large potatoes
3tbsp olive oil (or any
other oil of choice)
2tsp salt
Serves 2 (or more if a
smaller portion)
Method
Peel potatoes and chop
into small pieces.
Put in a bowl of cold
water and leave for at least half an hour.
Heat oven to 220˚C/ Gas 7 and put oil into a large baking tray. Preheat oil
for about 5 minutes.
Drain potatoes and place
in tray.
Roast for about 20 minutes.
Sprinkle salt over and then turn.
Roast for a further 20
minutes.
If brown and crispy, serve
right away. (Roast for an extra 10 minutes if needed).
Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest - STUART LITTLE
Well, you cook for a
couple of Disney Dogs and,
before you know it, an animated mouse is knocking at the door demanding dinner. In this case,
however, Zelda was happy to oblige.
Stuart began life in a 1954
children's novel by EB White. Incidentally, I would love have a bit of a
chinwag with Elwyn Brooks White. I would ask him how he could make such a fuss
of saving Wilbur in Charlotte's
Web, but place it in the context of a novel where pig farming and its
consequences are seen as acceptable. Don't get me wrong; I am glad that Wilbur
was saved, but what about all the others on the farm? I am not a militant
vegetarian: I don't campaign against meat eating and I cook my veggie dishes to
tempt carnivores, not to judge them, but I don't see how Elwyn can have it both
ways.
That aside, let's get back to Stuart who is a loveable little
character who found further fame again at the end of the 1990s with a series of
films, loosely based (but actually improving on) his adventures in print.
CHEESY LEEK PASTA BAKE
250g/ 8oz fusilli2 leeks, chopped
1 small onion, chopped finely
100g/ 3½oz cheddar cheese, grated
25ml /1floz milk
25g/ 1oz butter
25g/ 1oz plain flour
100ml/ 3½floz vegetable stock
100ml/ 3½floz double cream (replace with milk for a lighter meal)
100g/ 3½oz breadcrumbs
1tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 200C/ Gas 6
Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
In a separate pan, heat butter and add flour to make a roux.
Add 50g cheese and mix well until melted.
Sunday, 7 May 2017
Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest – NOEL COWARD
Coward was a playwright,
actor, director, author, composer, singer, cabaret performer, etc., etc. His
wit was renowned and, although now often parodied, was unique at the time.
Here is his wonderful rendition
of Mad Dogs and Englishmen:
And here is (the also
wonderful) Neil Hannon’s version of I
Went to a Marvellous Party:
In 1935 Coward wrote a short
play called Red Peppers which was
part of a ten-play cycle known as Tonight
at 8:30. He performed in it himself, alongside Gertrude Lawrence. I think that if he came to
dinner he might appreciate me cooking something with red peppers as a main ingredient.
It would appease his legendary ego.
When choosing my dish, I
did wonder at first whether it might be too familiar and not flamboyant enough,
but then I thought that Coward was always one to take the obvious and elevate
it, so I would serve this – but with champagne!
Actually, with this tart
you can’t fail to impress, however ordinary it is.
This is one of the easiest
veggie mains you will ever find. Something similar crops up in many cookery
books, but this is my even simpler version.
One of the problems that I
have found in the past is that the filling makes the pastry soggy. This method
should take care of that.
ROASTED RED PEPPER TART
Ingredients
1 sheet pre-rolled puff
pastry
1 red pepper
1 red onion
2tbsp olive oil
2tbsp tomato ketchup
1 ball mozzarella
1tsp dried mixed herbs
Serves 4
MethodDeseed the red pepper and chop into chunks.
Peel the red onion and cut
into wedges.
Place both in an oven
proof dish. Coat with the olive oil.
Roast at 200˚C/ Gas 6 for about 15-20 minutes until soft. Keep oven on at same heat.
Roast at 200˚C/ Gas 6 for about 15-20 minutes until soft. Keep oven on at same heat.
Meanwhile unroll the puff
pastry, retaining the paper. Allow to rest for a few minutes. Then, cut into
quarters, doing the same with the baking paper the pastry was wrapped in.
Score
along two sides of each rectangle and fold the strips over to the opposite
corner.
Then repeat with the other sides. This sounds complicated but it isn’t, and don't try to make it look too 'neat'.
Place each on a paper rectangle and put all four on a baking rack, on top of a baking tray. Heat in same oven as peppers for 5 minutes then remove and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Score
along two sides of each rectangle and fold the strips over to the opposite
corner. Then repeat with the other sides. This sounds complicated but it isn’t, and don't try to make it look too 'neat'.
Place each on a paper rectangle and put all four on a baking rack, on top of a baking tray. Heat in same oven as peppers for 5 minutes then remove and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Coat the base of each tart
with ketchup and sprinkle with the mixed herbs.
Rinse the mozzarella and
allow to dry.
When the peppers and onions are cooked, drain and dry on kitchen paper.
When the peppers and onions are cooked, drain and dry on kitchen paper.
Then, scatter over the tarts
making sure you have an even distribution.
Tear the mozzarella into
chunks and place it around the onion and pepper.
Heat in the oven for 20-25
minutes until the pastry edges and mozzarella are lightly browned.
Carefully remove from the
paper and serve immediately. 
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