Chocloate Orange Cake

 8 oz. (200g) plain wholemeal flour

4 oz. (100g) vegan margarine

4 oz. (100g) raw cane sugar

1 tbs syrup

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/3 pint (175ml) orange juice (or use soya milk)

2 tbsps baking powder

2 tbsps cocoa powder

1 tbsp orange peel, finely grated (or chopped nuts)

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180 °C / 350 °F.

Cream together margarine, sugar and syrup. In a jug, stir bicarb. or soda into orange juice and add to bowl. Sift flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt and gradually stir into the bowl. Add orange peel. Spoon the mixture (which will be quite sloppy) into a medium sized square tin. Generously sprinkle the top with more sugar. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until cooked in the centre. Cool briefly in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack

Pizza

Pizza Base

1 lb. (450g) plain 85% wholemeal flour

1 sachet dried yeast

2 tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp. salt

6 fl.oz. (150ml) warm water

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix into a dough. Add more water or oil if necessary. Knead for 5 minutes to get air into the dough. Put into a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rise for about half an hour while you make the topping.

Punch down the dough, roll out into a circle on a baking sheet or pizza dish. 

Topping

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 or more cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 small onion

3 tbsp. tomato purée

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. Sage

2 oz. hard vegan cheese (e.g. Scheese, Cheezley etc.)

Your choice of toppings. I recommend: sliced mushrooms, peppers, sweetcorn, olives, artichoke hearts, smoky tofu, vegan meat substitutes such as Cheatin' Ham.

Fry onion until soft and garlic. Add tomatoes, herbs and purée and cook for a few minutes. Add a handful of wholemeal flour if you want to make the sauce thicker.

Spread the sauce over the pizza base. Add toppings and cover with cheese.

Leave the pizza to stand in a warm place for 15 minutes whilst pre-heating the oven.

Bake at Gas Mark 9 / 250 °C / 470 °F for 15-20 minutes.

Chestnut Pie

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes, diced and parboiled
1 red onion, diced
8oz chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 tin (240g) peeled, cooked chestnuts
1 bottle bitter or ale
Pinch of dried mixed herbs
1 tsp Marmite
3 tsp vegetable bouillon
For the pastry:
6oz self raising flour
3oz vegan margarine
Sesame seeds
Soya milk

Method
Fry the onion in a saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil until soft.
Add the mushrooms, stir well and cook for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, chestnuts and enough bitter or ale to cover (about 400 ml). Simmer for 5 minutes.
Finally, add the herbs, marmite and bouillon. Season to taste and simmer for a further 5 mins. When done, place the filling in a 7" overproof dish.
Meanwhile make the pastry in the usual way with a dash of cold water and a pinch of salt.
Roughly shape the pastry in your hands and place over the top of the filling. Brush with soya milk and sprinkle with a handful of sesame seeds.
Cook at Gas Mark 7 for approx 30 mins until the pastry is golden brown.

Vegan Wontons

First, make the wrappers:

2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup warm water
Cornflower

 

In a mixing bowl stir together the flour and salt. Slowly stir in the warm water to make a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.Divide dough into fourths. Roll each fourth into a 12 inch square. Keep remaining dough covered. Ccut the dough into 3 inch squares. To prevent the squares from sticking together, sprinkle with a little cornstarch; stack and refrigerate the skins in a plastic bag.

Then make some sort of filling:

Red pepper and sweet potato?
Or some garlicky stuff?  With some nuts or something?  Whatever, really.

Then cook 'em:


Divide the filling – about 1 tsp per wrapper – into the wrappers.
Fold over and press together and place on a lightly greased baking tray.
Bake at 150 ºC for 10 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Sweet potato pasties

8 oz shortcrust pastry (= 1:2 margarine:flour)
1 onion
2 small/medium size sweet potatoes
4 oz frozen peas
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp chilli
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coriander
¼ tsp mustard powder
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6 / 200 °C. Cut up the sweet potatoes into chunks and boil for around 15 minutes until fairly soft. Dice them.
While they are cooking, make the pastry and leave to stand.
Chop and fry the onion and add ½ tsp ginger; ½ tsp chilli; ¼ tsp turmeric; ½ tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp coriander; ¼ tsp mustard powder, salt and pepper. Add the spices and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes. Allow to cool.
Roll the pastry into 4 circles. Place filling into centre of pastry and fold into a pasty. Brush with soya milk and make a small vent in each one. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Objects

There's something going on with objects which I haven't fully figured out yet. It seems that perhaps the tendency of people to objectify the material world - by which I mean to compartmentalise it into discrete units (objects) - reached a peak some time around the 1930s and is now declining.
Perhaps this isn't true. But maybe if it is it's because the advent of manufacturing and the creation of lots of man-made objects in the 19th and early 20th centuries led people towards a recognition of the ability to compartmentalise the world in this way (whereas previously the world was just a load of overlapping 'stuff'). Whereas recently with the advent of the digital age we are moving away from that idea - the 'information units as objects' idea and a more encompassing / holistic world-view has led to a more fluid idea of what 'objects' are, and perhaps a feeling that they are less discrete / disconnected.
This occurred to me whilst listening to some swing jazz this morning, where the singer was talking about a number of different fruits. The lyrics implied a strong mental image of what the objects were, in a kind of Aristotelian 'ideal form' sense - something which I found didn't sit easily with me.  My view of what they were seemed kind of more fluid..
I wonder if this makes any sense.

Jasmine Honey Rice

Fry some jasmine rice in loads of garlic, creamed coconut and some herbs.  Add water and honey and a bit of balsamic vinegar and cook until cooked.  Lush.