A Sort of Homecoming

Something weird seems to have happened to the blog’s font….?/Bl***yWordPress.

EDIT: Seems to have been sorted/Bl***yWordPress.

Had a go at tarka dal (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tarkadal_90055) – came out alright, but not so amazing that I’ll recommend it to you at this moment. May have another try next week…

In the meantime have been perfecting my rice-flour pancakes recipe. So, if you’re ending up with lukewarm riceflour & coconut grouting-paste, rather than edible pancakes, I would suggest trying the following tricks; add more beaten egg to the mixture, use butter rather than oil in the frying-pan, heat the butter just before the point of burning before pouring on the batter, cook the batter at high-medium-high heat, move the pan around to distribute the heat equally across the pancake (important if you have a big saucepan, otherwise the edges won’t firm enough for you to flip the pancake successfully).

And be patient, young Padawan. Rice flour seems to take just that slightly bit longer than other flours to turn from batter to firm pancake.

Then eat, with a burningly-spicy tomato chutney.

Basil & Coriander Tofu Pancakes

A light lunch, and a break from the traditional Xmas diet at this time of chocolate, more chocolate, roast potatoes, sprouts, extra sprouts, more sprouts just-in-case and rich fruit puddings with custard.

And it’s about time that the happily re-potted Steve (my basil plant), earned his living again.

Tofu and vegetable curry with Date & Tamarind Chutney

Nothing overly exciting, but a tasty and warming riposte to a cold Sunday afternoon nonetheless….

Hold back the River

So it’s Friday and I’ve survived another week at work, and I’ve been to the supermarket (Russian Standard Vodka! Tenner a Bottle! Cockles and Mussels Alive-O!) and then to the gym and I will be sensible and have an early night, which is why I’m up typing this at 01.40am of course.

Friday night dinners lack the urgency of week-night meals. You can stick some defrosted bean chilli in a baking tray and then into the oven, as per usual, but it’s possible then to kick back, relax, refill your drink, and experiment with home-made pancakes, flat breads or crepes as an accompaniment. Tonight’s show was originally going to come courtesy of the rice-flour pancakes I’ve touted here a couple of times before. Except I appear to have lost the knack of making these delicate crepes; what I ended up with after an hour of repeated stirring, pouring and frying would have made an excellent coconut-flavoured wallpaper paste, but was sod-all use otherwise.

Undaunted (and bloody starving) I moved onto these gram flour pancakes, also from 101cookbooks http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/silverdollar-socca-recipe.html. Fortunately these were a little more robust, and with a dash of tomato chutney, (I’d eaten the bean chilli long before), made a fine supper.

Tomato Chutney, Tofu & Mushroom with Rice-Flour Pancakes

Spotted a bunch of Basics Own Brand Value Range Tomato-Chutney jars clustered forlornly together on a shelf in the supermarket, as the line is being discontinued. Due to successful experiments with the Date & Tamarind Chutney I felt I should acquire a jar or two of the tomato, as spicy tomato paste of any kind has a myriad of uses, and chutney turns out to be a rather splendid form of cheap stir-fry sauce……..

Pad Tangle

Monday Night Blues left me with a desire to drink a vast amount of vodka. I managed to turn right at the Alcohol Aisle though and spent the money instead on the ingredients of an over-complicated Pad Thai (complete with egg “netting”*) that was edible enough but didn’t really hit the spot. Bit of a Tofu-Dog’s Dinner as you can see:

*http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/oct/14/jane-hughes-vegetarian-pad-thai-recipe

The supermarket didn’t have any tamarind sauce, so I went with a “Tamarind & Date Chutney” as the emergency alternative, which turned out in itself to be a Thing of Great Beauty & Wonder. I’m already having tentative thoughts involving the rice-flour pancakes from the other week….

The Pad Thai did leave me with some lime juice and shallots going begging though, and I still need lunch sorting, so I had a go at http://inpursuitofmore.com/2013/01/18/recipe-red-lentil-shallot-sun-dried-tomato-hummus/, together with some pitta breads and salad.