Craig Cooks

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Mushroom & Cheese Pie

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Here’s my mushroom, cheese and leek pie. I’m extremely happy. It’s only the second or third time I’ve made pastry by hand. I usually use Maggie Beer’s sour cream pastry which you blitz in a blender. Also it’s the second time I’ve tried to make a lattice, and thanks to a Youtube lesson, it worked!

The recipe is based on a recipe by Samantha Coutts in Delicious magazine, May 2017.

Pastry
750g plain flour
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp salt
200g salted butter, chopped
150g lard
4 tbsp sour cream
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Mix the flour, pepper and salt together. With your hands or in a food processor, mix in the butter and lard until you get uneven crumbs. Put in a bowl and make a well in the centre.

Mix sour cream and cider vinegar, then add 4 tbsp iced water. Pour into the well and use a knife to make slices in the flour to mix it all together. Move to a floured surface and knead it into a ball. Don’t overwork it. Wrap in cling wrap and put back into the fridge for at least an hour.

I need to say that I had heaps of dough left over…. 

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Veg & Miso Pasties

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Last night we made these pasties from Helen Goh’s recipe in the Good Weekend magazine. I made the filling and my partner made the dough.

The dough unusual in that it is made with hot water.

150g plain flour
150g wholemeal flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
160g unsalted butter rubbed into the flour

Then 120ml hot water added to make the dough. Stir it it, knead it a little, let it cool.

I added extra veg to the broccoli and onion filling – leek, carrot, corn, beans.

The interesting flavour comes from the addition of miso paste. We’ll be making these again.

Anyway, go and check out the recipe.

Pickles and Chutney

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At the end of summer we’re pickling all kinds of things. Here are a few that we’ve bottled.

Stephanie’s Bread & Butter Zucchini Pickles from The Cook’s Companion

This of course is a cooking Bible and therefore essential in every kitchen. We had a surfeit of yellow squash and I was looking for a simple pickle that was not too tangy. This is perfect as it is just like a relish.

Toss together the following in a bowl and cover with water. Leave for an hour.

1 kg zucchini or squash, sliced
3 onions, finely sliced
1/2 cup salt

Drain the vegetables well and return to the bowl.

Meanwhile combine the following in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

3 cups white wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp dry mustasrd
2 tsp ground turmeric

Pour over the vegetables and put in sterilised bottles and refrigerate.

… 

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Quinoa & Sweet Potato Burger

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I’ve become quite a fan of Martin Nordin’s Green Burgers, which I bought at bargain price some time ago. Since we’re in COVID-19 lockdown mode, we’re taking the opportunity to try some new recipes.

I varied the patty recipe slightly, and the additions.

For 6 burgers

600g 0r 3 medium sweet potatoes – bake in skins at 200Cuntil soft. Cut in half and scrape insides out and into a food processor. Allow to cool a little.

1 cup of boiled quinoa (200g). At the end I added the flower tips of a bunch of broccolini.

Add the following to the sweet potato in the food processor

2 eggs, whisked
100g chickpea (besan) flour
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp wholegrain Dijon mustard
1 tbsp Walnut Butter (instead I added 1 tbsp butter and 2tbsp almond meal)
juice of 1/2 lemon
a pinch of sea salt

Pulse blend until well combined. Put mixture into a bowl and mix in the quinoa (and in my case, the broccolini tips as well).

Our mixture was quite damp so we added additional chickpea flour.

This was formed into patties, covered with cling film and put into the fridge for an hour to firm up.

They were fried in a pan and then baked in the oven at 180C for 10 minutes.

We made bread rolls earlier in the day.

The burgers included some coleslaw with home-made mayonnaise, balsamic onion relish, halloumi, home-made bread and butter pickles with our garden squash, and horseradish cream mixed with sour cream.

This was a fantastic combination.

I thoroughly recommend the book which gives loads of ideas not just for vegetarian patties but also their accompaniments.