Tatws Popty (Welsh Oven Potatoes)

Tatws popty is a traditional Welsh dish of roasted meat and potatoes. The name translates as "oven potatoes" so I don't feel too bad for leaving out the meat and keeping the traditional name. It's a versatile dish, everybody's nain (grandmother) has her own way of making it. Since I've left the meat out of mine, I've added in some extra vegetables to make it a complete meal. It's such an easy and comforting dish and is perfect for this cool weather. White wine is not a very common addition, but adds a lovely sweetness - you could use beer instead if you wanted a 'meatier' flavour to the dish.

Tatws Popty

Ingredients
6 large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into sixths (or just large chunks)
1 leek, washed and chopped into large pieces
1 large parsnip or swede (or both if you like), peeled and chopped into large chunks
1/3 cup vegan margarine/butter
3 tbsp olive oil
4 onions, peeled and thickly sliced
14 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
2-3 sprigs thyme
1/2 cup white wine
2/3 cup beef stock (no animal content, such as Massel), or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

To Make:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius and prep all your veggies.
2. Heat a large casserole dish or roasting pan on the stove (if you don't have a suitable dish, you can use a frypan and then transfer to a casserole dish) and add the margarine and olive oil. Once melted, add the onions, garlic cloves, bay leaves and the thyme. Cook for 8-9 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the onions have started to brown. 
3. Remove from the heat and add the leek and the parsnip and/or swede to the dish, followed by the potatoes on top. Pour over the white wine and the stock. 
4. Seal well with foil (or a lid) and bake in the oven for 1 hour, or until the potatoes are completely cooked through. 
5. Remove the foil or lid and switch the oven to the grill setting and leave in until the potatoes are crispy and browned on top. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Have as is, or add some steamed green veggies.

Serves 4-6. 

I'm featuring lots of recipes from the United Kingdom,

Check out my other recipe posts here:

Vegan Cauliflower Cheese

Summer Pudding

Mushroom & Guinness Pie

Treacle Tart

Vegan Bakewell Tart

Roasted Love Apple and Wine Soup

Cranachan (Whiskey Cream with Raspberries and Oats)

Orange and Lemon Vegetables

Scottish Vegan Oat Scones

Swede & Parsnip Mini Cottage Pies

Plum Infused Wine

It's turning disticntly to Autumn here, the mornings have started to get chilli, the leaves are starting to yellow and the beautiful summer fruits are diminishing in stores. Around this time of year I like to try and preserve some of the flavours of the summer fruits so that I can enjoy them once the fruits are no longer available. Jams are a wonderful way to do this, but I'm also a big fan of infused vodkas - Strawberry & Lime Infused Vodka, Raspberry Vodka & Pineapple & Basil Vodka have featured on the blog in past years to preserve the flavours of summer fruits (plus they make great gifts).

This time around I had a big bag of plums on the verge of being over ripe, and I thought I'd try something a bit different. I love Japanese plum wine, so I thought I'd try a fresh plum infused wine. No, they're definitely not even close to being the same thing, but my fresh plum infused wine worked really beautifully.

It's not really a recipe, use whatever quantity you have or want. Use whatver type of plums you have, and choose a wine you like. I recommend starting with a mild flavoured wine, and definitely not one that is too sweet. I recommend starting with a Semillion or Semillion Savingnon Blanc. If you start with a wine that is already sweet, all the sugars in the plums will make for a very sweet wine! Mine turned out just the right amount of sweet with a mild Semillion Sauvignon Blanc, it was fresh and fruity - and a truly beautiful colour.

Plum Infused Wine

Ingredients
About 500-750g plums
1 bottle mild flavoured white wine

To Make
1. Wash the plums (then pat dry, you don't want to water your wine down) and then remove the seeds and slice. 
2. Place in a large (probably 1 litre) clean jar and pour the wine over the top. Seal well and store in the fridge for 2-4 weeks. 

Will last several months in the fridge. 

Soetkoekies (Vegan)

I always find making cut out biscuits therapeutic, rolling out the dough and cutting out each one and then carefully transferring them to the tray and cutting out the next batch while the first batch are baking. I don't bake biscuits very often (because then I would eat biscuits very often), but I love putting some music on and spending an afternoon baking. I also love port. True, I love it. That makes this recipe just perfect. Have a little glass of port while you roll and bake & enjoy your afternoon! It's cold and rainy today and I wish I was at home drinking port and baking instead of here at work!

Soetkoekies

Ingredients
250g flour (I use wholemeal)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
100g castor sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
60g ground almonds
125g vegan margarine or butter
1/3 cup apple sauce
30ml port
Slivered almonds, to decorate

To Make
1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then rub the butter in with your fingers until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the apple sauce and port and mix into a stiff dough. If it's too sticky (sticking to your fingers while you mix) add a bit more flour until it's not sticky anymore. If it is too dry and crumbly (won't come together in a smooth ball) then add a little more port.
2. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
3. Heat oven to 180 degrees C.
4. Cut the dough into quarters and roll out a quarter at a time to about 5mm thick, then cut into whatever shapes you like. Place each biscuit on a tray lined with baking paper. Decorate each with a few slivered almonds.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes (or until just starting to turn golden brown), turn the tray about halfway through to ensure even baking.
6. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool complete and then store in an airtight jar or container.

Makes about 2 dozen (depends on the size of your biscuit cutters).

This month I'm featuring recipes from South Africa.

Check out my other South African recipe posts:

Vegan Milk Tart

South African Tomato Chutney

Chakalaka

Panamanian Black Eyed Beans

Hearty bean dishes are perfect for winter evening meals and even though this winter in Sydney has been very mild and sunny, it still has that evening chill which makes me crave slow cooked nourishing foods (and chocolate.....). It's a recipe from Panama month which I didn't get a chance to share with you then because I doubled the amount of work I was doing at the clinic (no time for blogging!), but now I have a moment to bring this one to you.

It's a bit of an unusual recipe, I found I on bluejellybeans.wordpress.com and adapted it to have at our Panamanian dinner party. It's got an odd mixture of flavours - bay leaves, chilli, cumin, fresh coriander and ..... red wine! Not usually what I put with those spices but my goodness it really worked. Everyone who tried these beans commented on how particularly delicious they are, so I recommend them for your next potluck!

Panamanian Black Eyed Beans

Ingredients
500g dried black eyed bean, soaked for 48 hours
1 onion, halved
2 bay leaves
1 Serrano chilli
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2/3 cup olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp fresh chopped oregano
1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander (or to taste)
1/2 cup red wine
Salt and pepper, to taste

To Make
1. Soak the beans for 48 hours and then drain and rinse. Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Add the bay leaves and half of the onion and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the beans are just tender. Drain and set aside
2. Finely chop the other half of the onion and the serrano chilli. Heat the olive oil in your large saucepan and sauté the onion, garlic and chilli until the onion is translucent. Add the coriander, cumin and oregano and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Add the drained beans, red wine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for another 20 minutes. Serve sprinkled with some extra chopped coriander. 

This month I'm featuring recipes from Panama.

Check out my other Panamanian recipe posts:

Panamanian Empanadas

Sweet Corn Cake with Lemon Glaze

Bollos de Mazorca

I've entered this dish in the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck.

Scottish Roasted Love Apple and Wine Soup

Now before you dismiss this as being some obscure ingredient which you'll never be find - don't worry! Love apple is a traditional name for tomato, although nobody seems sure why. There are a lot of theories on the internet but none of them have any credible source so I assume they're just people writing stuff. This gorgeous and rich love apple soup is roasted for extra rich heartiness, perfect with crusty bread for a warming Autumn meal.

May on Gormandize with A-dizzle and K-bobo is all about Scottish Food. I'm featuring the cuisine of a different country (in a vegan form!) every month. So far we've done Croatia, Chad, Bosnia and Iran. All were delicious and you should check out all the recipes in the archive. This month a reader has suggested that we do Scotland - which was posed as quite a challenge since Scottish cuisine is famed for its meatiness! I was pleasantly surprised to discover several non meat dishes (not a lot, but some!) and lots of delicious desserts! So it may be more a month of sweets than savouries this time!

This soup also rather neatly ties into the next Holiday Recipe Club. The theme ingredients for the Cince de Mayo hop (something which I know very little about) are dulce de leche, chorizos and tomato. That obviously doesn't leave me much choice- so tomatoes it is!

Ingredients

2 kg tomatoes

Olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stick, diced

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 litre vegetable stock (or use a vegetable based beef stock for a richer flavour)

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup red wine

To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 20 minutes.

3. Put the vegetable stock, onion, garlic, carrot, celery and tomato paste in a soup pot. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the wine and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

4. Add the roasted tomatoes and any juices left on the tray.

5. Blend the soup until very smooth and press through a strainer. Use a spoon to press all the liquid out of it and you should only be left with 1-2 tablespoons of thick paste at the end (mostly tomato skin and seeds), you can discard this.

6. Return to the pot and reheat gently. Serve with liberal cracked pepper and some crusty bread.

I'm featuring lots of recipes from the United Kingdom,

Check out my other recipe posts here:

Vegan Cauliflower Cheese

Summer Pudding

Mushroom & Guinness Pie

Treacle Tart

Vegan Bakewell Tart

Cranachan (Whiskey Cream with Raspberries and Oats)

Orange and Lemon Vegetables

Scottish Vegan Oat Scones

Swede & Parsnip Mini Cottage Pies

Vegan Fig and Red Wine Ice Cream

Over summer all my local greengrocers were stocking the most beautiful ripe figs for great prices. As soon as I saw these beautiful figs I instantly bought six. Then I got home and I couldn't decide what to do with them. It was tempting just to eat them all fresh in all their delicious fresh figgy goodness. But I have never made anything with figs so I decided that I wanted to use them in something. The first thing I thought of was The Kitchen Crusader's wonderful looking No Bake Fig and Chocolate Tart. But I'm trying to cook less rich and decadent desserts to be honest. I live with my partner and there are only so many rich desserts we can handle - so I thought I would make something which didn't have to be eaten all at once. My solution was fig and red wine ice cream (vegan, of course).

This is also my first time participating in the Eat-the-Alphabet link up blog hop - which I think it such a great idea. This month the letters E and F are being featured so I'm using Figs! For this recipe you'll need chilled coconut cream so be nice and organised and put the coconut cream in the fridge a few days before hand - I just keep a couple of tins in the fridge at all times so that I can pull them out and use it whenever I want.

On the subject of blog hops - I've decided that I should have one of my own since I have been participating in so many others' hops. Just trying to give a bit back into the community. It's open right now! The Vegan Soup-Off Challenge Blog Hop - don't be put off if you're not a vegan, it's open to everyone and vegetable/grain/pulse/noodle/pasta soups are for everyone - not just vegans. Please check it out and enter here.

On another note - I've been nominated for the Best Australian Blogs 2012 People's Choice Award - you can vote for me by hitting up this link: http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au/bloggingcomp/peopleschoice.html

Ingredients
1 tin coconut cream, chilled for at least 24 hours (several days is even better)
1 cup red wine plus 3 tbsp
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup soy milk
175g silken tofu
1 tbsp vanilla extract
5-6 fresh figs, skins removed

To Make
1. Place the cinnamon stick and the 1 cup of red wine in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half to 1/2 cup. Remove the cinnamon stick and allow to cool.
2. Open the can of coconut cream and scoop out the solid cream on the top. Set the liquid parts down the bottom of the can to use in another dish (I usually add mine to curries or soups).
3. Place the coconut cream, simmered red wine, soy milk, tofu, extra tbsp red wine, vanilla extract and the fresh figs in a blender. Blend to combine (don't over blend).
4. Pour the ice cream into an ice cream maker and process according to the instructions that come with your maker. If you don't have an ice cream maker - like me :( - pour the ice cream into a wide chilled dish. Then remove from the freezer every half hour and mix well - breaking up the frozen edges. I use a whisk or a large metal spoon, just make sure you break up all the frozen bits so that large ice crystals don't form. Do this at least 6 times, the more the better! Then leave to freeze overnight.
5. Once the ice cream is firm you can serve. I recommend removing it from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving so that it's easier to scoop.

What is your favourite unusual ice cream flavour?

Vegan Party Menus Part 2: Tomato, Olive and Red Wine Dip

This one was the perfect companion to the Sweet Potato and Sunflower Seed Dip.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped

Olive oil, for frying

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1 can crushed tomatos

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp red wine

1/3 cup sliced black olives (although if you are using 'sliced olives' from a jar rather than slicing your own deli kalamata olives I recommend using half a cup because they have a less strong flavour)

To Make:

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions and garlic until soft and transparent. Add the mixed herbs and sweet paprika and fry for a further minute until the herbs are fragrant. 

2. Add the remaining ingredients except the olives and heat through. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and stir the olives through.

4. Serve warm or at room temperature with crackers and/or celery & carrot sticks.

Note: This is also a great base for pasta! If you have any leftovers (which you won't because it's awesome) you can stir it through some hot pasta with a tin of diced tomatoes and some chopped basil and you have a fantastic pasta!