Nut Roast & Chocolate Nut Lava Cake

I am not a big meat eater so was pleased to see a nut roast recipe from Margaret.

I discovered that Lidl sell 200g packets of the recommended selection of mixed nuts so two packets were required
4 shallots, thyme, sage, mint - I have plenty of herbs growing in the garden, but if you don't have access to fresh use dried
400g can of chopped tomatoes, drain away the juice
3 eggs, beaten
150g of strong cheese
1 veg. Oxo cube or a teaspn of bouillon powder
1 teaspn lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
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toast the 250g of nuts in a dry pan being careful not to burn
Put the nuts, herbs, shallots, cheese and Oxo cube in the food processor to blitz until the mixture still has texture but is not pureed
combine the mixture with the drained tomatoes, beaten eggs, lemon juice, and ground black pepper
Place in a parchment lined loaf tin and cook for 45mins at 180℃ or fan oven 160℃ until golden brown - leave to cool in the tin
Serve either hot or cold

With the leftover nuts why not make a Cake. I found this easy recipe from a Turkish Airline inflight magazine whilst returning home from Cyprus.
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 Chocolate Nut Lava Cake
Ingredients 
75g chopped pecan nuts (I am substituting with the leftover mixed nuts)
100g dark chocolate
115g unsalted butter
175g sugar
75g plain flour
2 large beaten eggs
small teaspn vanilla extract

Break chocolate add butter and melt very gently in a bain marie. As soon as softening, remove from heat
add sugar,
then beaten eggs,
vanilla,
stir in flour and chopped nuts
Bake at 180℃ or fan oven 160℃  for 30 mins  

As indicated by the word 'lava' the cake is 
chocolatey and gooey inside     

eat it as it is or serve as a dessert topped off with cream or icecream

A Vegetarian Supper Dish

The halls are now undecked, the 'thank you' letters written - the festivities are over, and I want simpler food on my plate.  
Take a handful of fresh basil leaves, two fat cloves of garlic, two tbspns extra virgin olive oil and blend together, add more oil if necessary

Place on prepared vegetables and roast - fresh herbs and garlic elevate the flavours of the vegetables to another level

I served mine with some homemade macaroni cheese, dressed salad leaves and runner beans. To make the cheese sauce really tasty add proper English mustard, freshly ground nutmeg and use a mature grated vintage cheddar cheese.

Butternut Squash Lebanese style

A tasty vegetarian dish from the Middle East

 Ingredients for 4

1 large butternut squash, deseeded, skin removed

Extra virgin olive oil

70g tahini

juice of l lemon & 1 lime

 3 cloves of crushed garlic

1 red & 1 green chilli, deseeded & finely chopped

½ tsp chilli powder, plus extra

3 tbsp toasted pine nuts

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

1 small bunch of coriander chopped (use stems as well as leaves) 

 Heat oven to 190℃ (210℃ for non-fan)

Slice squash, drizzle with oil and roast on baking tray for about 30/40 mins, turning a couple of times until tender and the edges caramelise

For the dressing combine tahini, lemon & lime juice in bowl and beat in 6 tbsp water to smooth paste. Heat a little olive oil in frying pan, then add chopped garlic, chillies and chilli powder.

Cook for 1 min over medium heat then add tahini and walnuts and continue to cook for another minute. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped coriander.

Arrange squash on serving plate, cover with sauce, scatter pine nuts over top together with a light sprinkle of chilli powder only if you like your food more spicey (on the photo the pine nuts were included in the sauce but subsequently I prefer them added at the end

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Whilst the tahini is out of the cupboard why not quickly whizz up some humous

drain 400g tin of chickpeas

tablespoon of tahini

1 clove garlic

tbsn extra virgin olive oil

some sea salt

small spoon chilli powder

juice of two limes or one lemon

approx 12 stalks with leaves of fresh coriander

blend all together until smooth, taste and add more seasoning if required.

Add whatever fresh herbs you prefer, or use sundried tomatoes, red pepers, the choice is almost endless 

Falafel

Falafel is a Middle Eastern recipe made using chickpeas which are highly nutritious and cheap to buy - full of protein, complex carbohydrates and fibre. Dried and soaked chickpeas are normally used, but I used pre-soaked ones that come in a sealed packet with water - they are firmer and give a much better result than the tinned ones which are too soft. I used some Indian gram flour to help bind them - gram flour is made from finely milled chickpeas and dried split yellow peas

1 large cup of chickpeas

1 or 2 onions cut in chunks
a large handful of fresh coriander - I use the top part of the stems as well as the leaves

2 large cloves garlic

ground black pepper

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

good pinch of ground cardamon

pinch of salt if you wish
gram flour and egg to bind as necessary

I used cold press rape seed oil for cooking which is ideal to use at high temperatures and doesn't go toxic. I normally cook with olive oil, but I learnt fairly recently that it is not suitable for cooking at high temperatures.   

Put everything apart from the flour and egg into the processor and pulse gently so that it still keeps some texture. You don't want the mixture to be smooth and turn into hummus.

Place in clean bowl adding flour and beaten egg to bind the mixture

If you have a deep fat fryer roll the mixture into traditional balls - I do not, so made patties. Cook in hot oil until golden brown. Mine were finished off in the oven for 30 mins to make sure that they were properly cooked inside

There are many variations you can make to the mixture according to your taste - use fresh parsley or mint; give them a taste of Morocco by adding chopped dried apricots with paprika and cayenne pepper - the choice is yours
Traditionally served inside warm pitta bread with humus and salad
P.S I use gram flour to make pizza bases - it is more nutritious, and  flavoursome. It contains no gluten and is suitable for vegans - it is an Indian/Middle Eastern flour and can be found on ethnic shelves in the supermarkets