My children are growing up way too quickly; Miss O has finished her GCSEs and has started at 6th form college (she's studying for A Levels in English, History, Drama and Art History, if you're interested!) and Miss K has just started her GCSEs in year 10.
If all goes well with their studies, it won't be long until they leave for university. Like most parents, I worry about how well they'll cope in the big, wide world, despite the fact that they have both helped me with shopping, cooking and household chores since they were little (sometimes reluctantly, sometimes willingly!).
With this in mind, I was glad to be able to review The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook, as it seems like a great book to give to vegetarian teenagers or young adults who can cook more than beans on toast, but aren't quite ready for Ottolenghi. The book contains a wide range of cheap and simple to cook dishes, including breakfasts, lunches, main meals and desserts...plus a few cocktails too!
...The Hungry Student Vegetarian shares more than 200 quick and cheap meat-free recipes that are so tasty, even hardened carnivores will keep turning up for dinner. There are also indispensable tips on budgeting, lunchbox ideas, healthy eating and how to get creative with leftovers. All the recipes in this book are balanced for a healthy vegetarian diet, and they each have an affordability stamp to help with budgeting as well as detailed instructions to make them accessible to even the most novice cook.
I do have a couple of criticisms of the book; one is that most recipes feed four people, rather than one or two; I can't imagine that my girls are going to find three fellow veggies to share food and cooking with, although this would obviously make their living costs much cheaper. The other thing I noticed was that quite a wide array of herbs, spices and curry pastes are suggested in different recipes. I find curry pastes are pretty expensive and don't keep well compared to whole or ground spices, so I'd suggest investing in the basic spices - cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, cinnamon and paprika - rather than buy curry pastes.
Having said that, I love the handy tips at the start of each section, they really are worth reading and set this book apart from other budget-friendly/student cookbooks.
I set 14 year old Miss K the challenge of cooking one of the recipes from the book by herself. She chose the Cheddar burgers with cucumber salsa. These burgers are mainly made from beans, cheese, carrot and onion, so with the salsa and a bread roll, they are budget-friendly and cover all the food groups. Miss K made them easily and with the use of a burger press, they held together well, were simple to cook and tasted really good.
The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook: More Than 200 Quick and Simple Recipes, Published by Spruce, £7.99, www.octopusbooks.co.uk
I have two copies of the book to give away. Just tell me your favourite cheap-and-cheerful/student dish in a comment below, using the Rafflecopter widget. UK ONLY. Closes midnight Sunday 27th September.
You can find my own student recipe ideas and tips here.
Integrity Statement
I received a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of this review and two copies to give away. All views expressed are genuine.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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I'm not usually one to take up bloggers' challenges, but as this one involved wine, it was hard to resist! Yapp Brothers (the wine merchants) were kind enough to send out a bottle of wine and an individually tailored handwritten note to some of their favourite food bloggers in order for us to blog a suitable recipe which would pair well with our carefully-selected wine.
My chosen wine was an organically-produced Bergerac Sec: Domaine de l'Ancienne Cure 2014, which is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes and described as being "Very pale and clear with appealing spring blossom scents and a zesty, citrus-edged palate with a whistle-clean finish."
I did a bit of research to see what sort of flavours and ingredients would go with this wine. Amongst the vegetarian ingredients I found listed were: asparagus, young goat's cheeses, salads and herbs, so an idea hatched to make a cheesy quiche and serve it with sautéed new potatoes and a salad for a delicious, summer meal.
So, was this a good wine pairing? I found that the acidity and citrus flavours of the wine, stood up well to the rich, cheesy taste of quiche, cutting through the creaminess after each mouthful.
- 1 pack of ready-made shortcrust pastry (or make your own if you have the time!)
- 1 bunch of asparagus (approx 250g/8oz before trimming), trimmed and cut into 5-6cm pieces
- 1 small onion, diced finely
- 180ml/6 fl oz double cream
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 125g/5oz soft goat's cheese, chopped into small chunks
- 25g/1oz hard/mature goat's cheese or vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese, grated
- 1 tbsp chopped basil
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- grated nutmeg and black pepper to season
Pre-heat the oven to 190 C/180 C Fan/ Gas 5/375 F
Grease a 9-10"/25cm loose-bottom flan, or sandwich cake tin.
Roll out the pastry to around 0.5cm thick, so that it's about 3cm larger than the circumference of your tin. Cut out a large circle, using the base of the tin as a guide, with a sharp knife.
Line the tin with the pastry, pressing down gently to fit the bottom and sides of the tin. Trim off the excess pastry with a sharp knife.
Prick the base of the pastry case with a fork and bake blind (using baking beans or dried beans) for 12-15 minutes or until it's just starting to colour. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 170 C/160 C Fan/ Gas 3/325 F
Empty the baking beans out gently.
Meanwhile, gently fry the onions in a drop of vegetable oil, until softened.
Add the asparagus to the pan and place on a low heat for 5-7 minutes, or until tender, with the lid on - the moisture will steam the asparagus. Remove from the heat and take the pan lid off to let any excess moisture evaporate.
Mix the eggs and cream together and stir in the cheeses, herbs and seasoning.
Scatter the cooked asparagus and onions over the base of the flan case.
Pour the custard mixture over, ensuring that the vegetables are covered.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the custard has set in the centre and turned golden brown.
Allow to cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before removing.
Serve with sautéed or boiled new potatoes and a herby salad.
Integrity Statement
I received a complimentary bottle of wine for recipe development. All views expressed are my own.
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I'm getting a bit bored of a certain well-known competitive cooking show, as it's becoming too competitive, too 'professional' and far too pretentious for my liking (honestly, who really cooks anything in a sous vide?). But, I'm loving this series of the Great British Bake Off, as it has kept its gentle tweeness, thanks mainly I think to the well-chosen and generally pleasant range of contestants, the knowledgeable (but not patronising) experts Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry and to the lovely Mel and Sue, who co-present the programme.
So far, in this series, I've been inspired to have a go at baking the rather tricky looking 8 strand plaited loaf. Before this, I'd only ever attempted a rather pedestrian 3 stranded plait. The instructions for plaiting the dough were a bit confusing at first, but once I understood what they meant, my plait started to grow and actually looked quite like the ones on the programme!
With my first attempt (above), I followed the GBBO recipe to the letter, despite having reservations about the amount of yeast used (I would usually only use one sachet for that amount of flour). I think this resulted in the bread over-proving, as the resulting loaf was flatter than I expected, had quite a close texture and wasn't particularly tasty.
My second attempt (left) was with my tried and tested challah recipe. As this dough is softer than a plain bread dough, it was slightly more difficult to plait and the resulting loaf wasn't quite as neat as my first attempt. It did, hower, taste better!
I've entered this post on this month's Fresh from the Oven linky over on Fuss Free Flavours (started by Claire at Purely Food and Michelle at Utterly Scrummy) .
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A year ago, I published my very first blog post. It wasn't a very interesting one, but nonetheless it was an exciting moment for me. I wondered if anyone would read it and the subsequent posts I would add. I initially started my blog as I love writing, cooking and creating new recipes. I also thought it would be a nice way of preserving some family favourite recipes for my kids (who I named Miss Ony and Miss Kahonie for blogging purposes, as unlike many other bloggers, I prefer to hide behind an alias!)
At first I didn't publicise my blog at all, but after I found out about Britmums (or British Mummy Bloggers as it was then) and then the
UKFBA (UK Food Bloggers Association), I started to dip my toe into the mysterious ways of the blogging community... I had no idea that there were so many other people out there blogging away about so many different things! I then set up a twitter account and a Facebook page and slowly my numbers of page views and followers crept up. People were actually reading what I was writing, and cooking my recipes!
I've 'met' some wonderfully creative, funny and inspirational bloggers along the way. Some who have made me laugh out loud, and some who have brought a tear to me eye; I'm not naming any names as I don't want anyone to feel left out. I feel proud to have joined up with other bloggers who are campaigning for various good causes - I certainly didn't start blogging with that intention.
I've been lucky enough to get some freebies along the way, and have thoroughly enjoyed reviewing some of the yummy vegetarian products I've been sent from some lovely companies.
My blogoversary giveaway might not be quite as grand as others I've seen, but I hope you like the prizes on offer well enough to join in and have a go at winning one...
So, onto the give-away:
Prize 1: A gift pack full of yummy vegetarian sweets from Goody Good Stuff.
Goody Good Stuff sweets contain natural fruit juices and extracts and no artificial nasties. All varieties are vegetarian (some are vegan), fat-free, dairy-free, nut-free, Halal and Kosher certified.
Find them on Facebook or drop them a tweet @goodygoodstuff.
Prize 2: 3 vouchers for tasty Innocent veg pots (one prize).
Choose from 8 different varieties (most are vegan and all are vegetarian). All contain 3 portions of veg, wholegrains, or pulses and tasty sauce, with herbs and spices and they're ready to eat in just 4 minutes.
Find them on Facebook or drop them a tweet @innocentdrinks.
Prize 3: A delicious selection of vegetarian products from Linda McCartney Foods.
Includes the following: 1 x Vegetarian Roast, 1 x Mini Snack Vegetarian Sausages, 1 x Rosemary & Red Onion Sausages, 1 x Cranberry & Camembert Burgers (one prize).
Find them on Facebook or Youtube, or drop them a tweet @meatfreetweets .
How to enter: COMPETITION NOW CLOSED
Winners are @msetoonie wins the Goody Good Stuff sweets, @Veggie_4_Life wins the Innocent vouchers and @mum2alesha wins the Linda McCartney products - please contact me with your address details.
- Follow my blog and leave me a comment below to say you've done this, along with your contact details. Let me know which prize you want to try and win (one comment per prize draw entry please).
- For another chance to win, follow me on Twitter @FacelessFood and tweet I've entered the Very Veggie Giveaway with @Facelessfood @Bookhams @Goodygoodstuff @Innocentdrinks & @Meatfreetweets
http://wedonteatanythingwithaface.blogspot.com and leave your twitter ID and details of your preferred prize in a comment below.
- For another extra entry per prize, just follow the appropriate twitter ID for the prize you hope to win (@goodygoodstuff, @innocentdrinks or @meatfreetweets) and add an extra comment below - with contact details - to say you've done this.
- Remember I need some way of contacting you in case you win, so make sure you put this in your comments! If you leave your twitter ID as means of contact, then please follow me @facelessfood so that I can message you if you win. Alternatively email me onykahonie1 at rocketmail dot com.
Terms and conditions
Entries only from the UK please.
A maximum of 3 entries for each prize are allowed per person.
Competition closes at midnight on 28th October 2011
The winner of each prize will be drawn at random.
I will contact winners within 48 hours of the prize draw. If winners have not replied within 7 days, I reserve the right to re-draw and offer the prize to another entrant.
Many thanks to Innocent, Goody Good Stuff, Bookhams and Linda McCartney Foods for kindly supplying the prizes and images provided.
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