Vegetarian enchiladas

I came home today after babysitting and the weather - 27°C in the shade - made me change the plans for tonight. Instead of the minced meat ready in the fridge, I took out minced quorn and I made vegetarian enchiladas. The minced meat is for a chillier day, today we want exotic food! 

I've made enchiladas before and posted them on the website too, but these are different: they're veggie in disguise and they're filled with a chili con carne sauce. It's the first time I've tried to make something with minced quorn, so it's a risk. I hoped the quorn wouldn't be too dry. To make sure, I made extra tomato-pepper sauce so that it would compensate a little.

Ingredients for 4:
- 6 tortillas
- 1 can (200 grams) sweet corn
- 1 can (300 grams) kidney beans
- 1 small can (150 grams) white beans in tomato sauce
- 150 grams minced quorn
- 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
- pepper and salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- olive oil
- tomato-pepper sauce (as in the enchilada recipe some time ago)
- 200 grams of cheddar: half for in the enchiladas, half for topping them

How to:
Make the tomato-pepper sauce first. Set aside.
Fry the chopped onion and the peppers in the olive oil. Add the quorn and the garlic to this and a little of the tomato sauce so that it gets some liquid. Stir from time to time until the peppers are tender. Spice the mixture with cumin, pepper, salt and oregano. 

Add the beans and the corn and stir quickly. Make sure the beans don't get crushed.
Set aside.
Take the tortillas and after making a small layer of cheese, spoon the chili mixture over 4 of them. 

Cut the remaining 2 in half and put each half on one of the other (filled) tortillas. Now flip the sides of the lower tortilla so that you have a large roll.
Put the rolls (open side down) in a greased oven tray. 
Cover the rolls with the sauce so that nothing remains uncovered. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top of them.
Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour at 200°C. The cheese should've gotten golden brown in colour and the excess liquid from the sauce should have evaporated.

the enchilada served with some left-over corn, tomatoes
and cilantro for extra veggies

The verdict? My sister liked it very much, she said she wouldn't have known it was meatless if I hadn't told her. The taste is good. The quorn is slightly dry, but that's also the case with 100% pure beef mince (because it lacks the fat), so if you're not used to the juicy pork mince you'll be just fine! :D

Buon apetito!

Egg plants have returned

We haven't used egg plants for ages, here at home. The reason is simple: it's not a much liked vegetable by the majority of my house mates (my dad and my sister because of the taste, my mum by lack of ideas what to do with them). 
But ... I saw them lying in the supermarket, next to the zuchini's and the tomatoes, and I got the feeling I should do something with them.


My first idea was to make a tajine, named after the Moroccan dish prepared in the beautiful terracotta pots. So I took out the tajine from the cupboard and dusted it off. It became evident why it wasn't used before when I started cooking in it: the house smelled of burned oil because of a large tear in the tajine's bottom!


My beloved egg plant and the other vegetables already frying in it were immediately rescued into the safety of another pot. There they cooked further. My idea of making tajine  wasn't a success, but the result is quite alright :)


Ingredients for 4:
- 8 pieces of chicken
- 400 grams canned and peeled tomatoes
- 1 egg plant
- 1 red pepper (sweet)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- chilli flakes
- black pepper and salt to taste
- olive oil
- shoarma spices to taste
- teaspoon of cumin powder
- half a can (small) of tomato paste
- 1 star anise
- 200 grams cousous (semolina)
- fresh parsley for serving


How to:
Cube the egg plant and cover with some salt. Let stand for about half an hour until the saps come out. Rinse the cubes and dry them.
Heat the pot and pour in some oil for frying.
Add the diced pepper and the egg plant to the pot. Also add the whole cloves of garlic.

Once they're covered with a little oil and have fried a while, pour in the canned tomatoes. Cover with the lid and let simmer on medium heat for about half an hour.
Now put the chicken on top of the vegetables. Season the dish with star anise, cumin, shoarma spices and chilli flakes. Also put in the tomato paste.

Put the lid back on and let simmer another hour, turning around the chicken from time to time. 
Taste and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with the couscous (semolina) and some fresh parsley.


Enjoy!

Pasta with chicken livers and pepper sauce

It's been a very busy week. I've been monitoring a children's camp the past five days. The theme of the week was 'animals', and I was in charge of twelve 6 to 8 year olds, which were adorable. We had a falconer visiting us, who showed us falcons, owls, buzzards, an eagle and a vulture. The children and I were delighted, but who wouldn't be?


The coming week will be camp again, this time in the theme 'cupcakes'. This title is not covering all we will be doing. We'll be doing all sorts of baking activities such as preparing cupcakes (of course, hence the title), making quiche, cake pops, biscuits and whoopie pies.  Lots to look forward to!


Today is the first day I can cook again after all this busyness. It'll be pasta with a sauce of peppers and cilantro and chicken livers. Liver isn't everyone's favourite, but I can assure you it's very good. You have to try it!

Ingredients for 4:
- 450 grams chicken livers
- 300 grams pasta
- olive oil
- 2 peppers (red and yellow)
- 400 grams peeled tomatoes (canned)
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- crushed chillies (flakes)
- powdered ginger
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic
- fresh cilantro
- pepper and salt to taste
- 100 grams grated cheese


How to:
Make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a pot and add the garlic which you've cut into small pieces and the peppers, diced. Once they've fried for a while (make sure to stir a lot), you can add the tomatoes and the tomato paste. Let it cook for a few minutes on high heat.
Season with salt, pepper, a little cilantro and the chilli flakes. Lower the heat and let it all simmer for about an hour.
In the mean time, you can cut the chicken livers into smaller, bite-size pieces.

Heat some olive oil in a non-stick skillet on the fire and fry the pieces of liver in it. Once they're done (you can check by cutting a piece in half), powder some ginger on top of the chicken livers.

Add the chicken livers to the sauce and let them simmer along for a while, so that the sauce can take up the flavours.

Cook the pasta until tender. Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce and the chicken livers, season to taste and serve with some grated cheese.

Have a nice meal!

Paella with chicken and sea fruit

paella nearly ready to serve

I made paella last year, and that was a complete disaster.
I didn't find fresh sea fruit so had to do with frozen sea food and found out that it didn't taste any better than pieces of rubber. I just used regular rice, which wasn't cooked through after absorbing the water. I didn't fry the chicken beforehand so the chicken was still raw at places. I didn't season enough which made the flavour bland ...
In short, making paella wasn't something I would try again soon. The disappointment of my fellow eaters was just too great and so obvious in their way of looking at me.


But I found something in the supermarket last week which would soon change my mind: a mix of sea fruit, already cooked but fresh.
My mind began racing and I took the decision of trying paella all over again.


We don't have a special paelle pan and buying one for the occasion is a bit out of proportion for me. Our own skillets would have to do.
I set off for another try at paella.


I have to say that the taste was just right. Of course, it can't compete with the authentic - made in a real paella pan - dish, but it's really worth trying andsuper easy!


Ingredients for 4:
- olive oil
- 1 red pepper, blackened, skinned and cut in small strips
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves of garlic, cut in very small pieces
- 100 grams fresh peas
- 8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half and dried in a 150°C oven for about 45 minutes
- 1 gram of saffron powder
- a pinch of paprika powder
- crushed chillies
- 200 grams sea fruit (prawns, mussels, squid, ...), already cooked
- 6 chicken legs (or any other part of chicken), already fried or grilled
- 300 grams paella rice (you can find it in any supermarket)
- salt and pepper to taste
- a little kurkuma for extra colour
- 1 fresh lime
- 600-700 ml of fish stock


How to:
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Fry the onion, the garlic, the pepper and the tomatoes until they've browned slightly.

Add the rice and spices and turn them in the pan so that each grain of rice is covered in a little oil and the spices are all over the ingredients.
Now pour the stock in, together with the chicken and the peas. Let it all simmer on medium heat with the lid on the pan. Check from time to time whether the rice is ready to be eaten and the stock has been taken up. If more stock is needed, add a little at the time. 
When the rice is just about ready but hasn't taken up all of the stock, add the sea fruit. They have to be added as late as possible so that they don't get rubbery (I learned from my mistakes!).

Before serving, let the paella stand for a few minutes so that the excess damp can evaporate.
Cut the lime in slices and put them on top of the paella on table. Everyone can now spoon his or her own serving. 


Apetitoso!

Veggie Day

Today the veggies rule!


Veggie Day is a term that was introduced a few years ago. The city of Ghent launched the initiative to eat vegetarian once a week, on Thursday, to help reduce the ecological footprint. Even though it's not compulsory for the citizens of the city, a lot of people follow that example.
It was world news, as you see in this article in Time Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1900958,00.html

I'm convinced that - as you can't do it all by yourself - every little step any one takes, is a step in the right direction. I don't claim to change the environment with this, but I do try to reduce the meat consumption for myself and - though in a smaller amount- of my family. 


So since a couple of years we eat at least once a week vegetarian. I have to admit that only my sister and I really eat vegetarian all day. My dad and mum have the nasty habit of considering anything that can be put on a sandwich (salami, ham, salads ...) doesn't count. I haven't been able to bring them round yet, but we keep on trying :)


Today we have stuffed peppers for dinner. It's completely my own creation. I looked for some recipes but I wasn't really happy with them entirely. 


Ingredients for 4 people:
- 4 red (sweet) peppers 
- 150 grams feta cheese (or another cheese made out of goat/sheep milk)
- 220 grams butternut squash
- 30 grams quinoa
- vegetable stock (as much as needed to prepare the quinoa)
- pepper and salt to taste
- handful of raisins
- handful of fresh mint leaves
- 400 grams peeled tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 clove of garlic


How to:
Put two peppers and the squash under the oven grill (highest temperature). Once the peppers are wrinkly all over their surface and feel soft when touched, take them out. Cut them in half vertically and remove all seeds so that each half has part of the stem. Take out the squash once it's soft. 
In the meanwhile, make a tomato-pepper sauce by cookingthe peeled tomatoes, two sweet red peppers (cut in smaller pieces), the cumin, the oregano and the garlic. Let all of this simmer for at least an hour and blend it afterwards so that it becomes a smooth sauce.

Prepare the quinoa as mentioned on the package with the stock. Add the raisins when the quinoa is nearly ready. They will soak up some of the water and get softened. Blend the squash once it's soft. Add it to the quinoa. Crumble the feta cheese and stir it under the quinoa-squash mixture. Cut the mint leaves in small pieces and stir them into the stuffing. Stuff the peppers with this filling.

Lay the stuffed peppers in the tomato sauce in an oven tray and let it all simmer for at least one hour at 200°C so that all aroma's are taken up.
I turned them oven halfway through cooking time also.


I served them with wheat semolina (used for couscous). I put some of the sauce on it for taste. When cut open, the stuffed peppers had the nicest yellow colour. 


We really loved the taste of it all. I felt sorry for not making more for us, because it was finished in no time! Even my sister who's a very, very difficult eater said she really liked it ... ;)