VEGETARIAN PIE

Vegetarian Pot Pie

Ingredients

2 Tbs. corn flour (=cornstarch)

1 and 1/3 cups prepared creamy potato-leek soup

1/2 tsp. dried crushed rosemary

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

500 g mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, cauliflower, turnip, etc), cubed, parboiled and drained

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

Method

Position oven racks in middle and bottom positions, and preheat oven to 230˚C.

Whisk 2 Tbs. cold water into corn flour in medium saucepan. Whisk in soup, rosemary, and cumin, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, stir in vegetables, then spread mixture in 23 cm deep-dish pie pan.

Unfold puff pastry, and place over vegetable mixture; allow pastry to drape over pie pan. Trim pastry edges with scissors or sharp knife so that it fits tightly in pan. Prick pastry all over with fork or knife. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until puff pastry is puffed and golden.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the My Corner of the World.

RICE

Rice (Oryza sativa) is a grain belonging to the grass family. The plant, which needs both warmth and moisture to grow, measures about 2 metres tall and has long, flat, pointed leaves and stalks bearing clusters of flowers producing the grain. It takes between 3 and 6 months for a rice plant to reach maturity. On average, farmers need 2,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of rice, the plant needing to grow in flooded fields (rice paddies). Rice is one of the few foods that is non-allergenic and gluten-free. Scientists believe there are about 140,000 varieties of cultivated rice.

Rice is one of the world’s staple foods and to give you an idea of the enormous scale of its cultivation, here are some astounding figures: In the year 2003, the world produced about 589 million tonnes of paddy rice. Most of that (≈534 million tonnes) was grown in Asia. In 2002, it is estimated that rice fields covered almost 1.5 million square km of land. Again, most of those fields are in Asia - around 1.3 million square km. When all developing countries are considered together, rice provides 30% of people’s energy intake and 20% of their dietary protein. Whenever I have visited SE Asian countries I have been impressed by the enormous tracts of land that are devoted to rice cultivation. I guess that is why most people have a typical image of the Far East in their mind and this image at some point includes a flooded rice paddy…

Today, rice is grown and harvested on every continent except Antarctica, where conditions make its growth impossible (not much is grown as a crop in Antarctica!). The majority of all rice produced comes from India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, and Bangladesh. Asian farmers still account for 92% of the world's total rice production. Talking with a Chinese colleague, I was told that rice in Asian countries is viewed very much as bread is viewed by the Europeans. Just as in the Southern Mediterranean countries bread was the basis of every meal, in Asian countries boiled or steamed rice is the basis of every meal.

Rice and its by-products are used for making straw and rope, paper, wine, crackers, beer, cosmetics, packing material, and even toothpaste! Now for that risotto recipe. Risotto is a classic dish of Italy prepared with special varieties of rice rich in starch, especially the Arborio type, and there are a multitude of recipes and variations. They all have as common feature the toasting of the rice with butter or olive oil, before broth is added to cook the grains thoroughly.

Here are a few rice recipes: Pumpkin Risotto, Rice Pudding and Diet Brown Fried Rice.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

CAKE

I have fond memories of my grandmother baking Madeira cake, from a recipe she got from an English friend of hers. The cake has a firm yet light texture. It is eaten with tea or (occasionally) for breakfast and is traditionally flavoured with lemon. Dating back to an original recipe in the 18th or 19th century, Madeira cake is similar to a pound cake or yellow cake.

It is sometimes mistakenly thought to originate from the Madeira Islands; however, that is not the case as it was instead named after Madeira wine, a Portuguese wine from the islands, which was popular in England at the time and was often served with the cake.

MADEIRA CAKE

Ingredients, Cake

175 g butter, softened

160 g caster sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs, at room temperature

115g self-raising flour

55g almond meal

60ml lemon juice

Ingredients, Lemon icing

230g icing sugar mixture, sifted

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line the base and sides of an 8 x 20cm loaf pan.

Use an electric mixer to beat butter, sugar, lemon rind and cinnamon in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour, almond meal and lemon juice and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.

Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make icing, combine icing sugar and juice in a small bowl to form a runny paste. Pour over top of cake, allowing it to drizzle down the sides. Allow icing to set for 1 hour.

Serve with Madeira wine!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

'C' IS FOR CAKE

Can you have your cake and eat it too? Do you like chocolate cake or perhaps carrot cake? Maybe Christmas cake, or are you partial to cherry cake? Does cinnamon cake make you swoon, or does your palate crave cupcakes? Whatever your cake heaven is, 'C' stands for CAKE in my books...

Some cake recipes for you:
Chocolate Jaffa Cake;
Cassata Cake;
Christmas Cake;
Cherry Cake;
Carrot Cake;
Cranberry Cake;
Cupcakes.

This post is part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

PERSIMMONS

Autumn means that the persimmons are ripening and their bright orange colour ensures that only do they please the taste buds, but also the eyes. Some people do not like eating these. What about you? Are you a persimmon eater or a persimmon hater?

Here is a recipe for persimmon paste if you are a liker:

Persimmon Paste
Ingredients
Vegetable oil, to grease
1kg just ripe persimmons, peeled, deseeded, coarsely chopped
60ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice
60ml (1/4 cup) water
440g (2 cups) sugar

Method
Brush an 18cm square cake pan with oil to lightly grease. Line base and 2 sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang sides.
Place the persimmons in a large heavy-based saucepan with the lemon juice and water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until persimmons are soft.
Set aside for 10-15 minutes to cool slightly. Place persimmon mixture in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Return to the pan with the sugar and stir over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 50 minutes or until the mixture thickens and stays separated for a few seconds when you drag a spoon through the centre or until temperature reaches 105°C on a sugar thermometer.
Pour the mixture into the lined pan. Set aside for 1 hour or until firm. Cut into pieces to serve.

This post is part of the Friday Photo Journal,
and also part of the Food Friday meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

EGGPLANT

Eggplant (Solanum melongena), or aubergine, is a species of nightshade in the Solanaceae family grown for its edible fruit. Eggplant is the common name in North America and Australia, but British English uses aubergine. It is known in South Asia, Southeast Asia and South Africa as brinjal. Other common names are melongene, garden egg, or guinea squash.

The fruit is widely used in cooking and treated as a vegetable. As a member of the genus Solanum, it is related to the tomato and the potato. It was originally domesticated from the wild nightshade species, the thorn or bitter apple, S. incanum, probably with two independent domestications, one in South Asia and one in East Asia.

Here is a vegetarian recipe for Eggplant Parmigiana.

This post is part of the Our Beautiful World meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES...

We have a few tomato plants in our garden, but this year they have not done well, it has not been much of a tomato year. Nevertheless, even if the tomato plants are dying, one can rescue quite a few of the green tomatoes and what better way to use them than...

Fried Green Tomatoes
Ingredients
3 green tomatoes
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 cup vegetable oil

Method
1 Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1 cm slices. Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper. Let tomato slices stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place in separate shallow bowls: The flour; the buttermilk and egg; and the bread crumbs and cornmeal.
2 Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet on medium heat. Beat the egg and the buttermilk together. Dip tomato slices in the flour, then buttermilk-egg mixture, then the cornmeal-bread crumb mix. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown. Set the cooked tomatoes on paper towels to drain.

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Food Friday meme.