Ghanaian Red Red Bean Stew

To complement the Ghanaian Very Hot Shito Sauce we bought our son at Christmas, I made a Red Red Bean Stew last night.  Red Red is a Ghanaian dish, make with black eyed beans, tomatoes, red peppers, scotch bonnet chilli, and red palm oil - hence it's name.  Given the strength of the Shito Sauce I decided substitute scotch bonnet chilli for sweet red pepper.

Although a plant based dish in itself, Red Red is often served with tinned mackerel or pilchards. I added chicken, as my teens are less keen on vegan/vegetarian dishes that we are.

Serves 4

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 chicken thighs (optional)

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 cm root ginger, roughly chopped

400g carton of passata

2 tins cooked black-eyed beans and their liquid

2 vegetable stock cubes

1 tsp Caribbean curry powder (or 1 tsp Indian curry powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, & 1/2 tsp ground allspice)

1/4 tsp chilli powder

Brown the chicken thighs, if using, in the olive oil in a pan big enough to make the stew, and remove from the hot oil.

Liquidise the onion, garlic, bell pepper, and root ginger with some of the bean water to make a loose paste.

Fry the liquidised onion and pepper mixture in the hot oil for a few minutes.

Stir the curry powder and chilli into the onion paste, then stir in the tomatoes, beans, and crumbled stock cubes.

Add the chicken back to the stew if using.  There should be enough liquid to cover all the ingredients in the pan with about 1cm of water.  Add more tap water if there isn't.  If too much liquid, you can reduce this whilst the stew cooks.  Cover (leave the lid off it too much liquid), and simmer for 20 minutes.  

Red Red could be cooked in a slow cooker. After frying the onion paste and dry spices,  pour into a slow cooker together with the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Serve with rice, or plantain.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Zoe.com Aubergine Parmigiana

Being gifted some aubergines seemed the ideal opportunity to make an Aubergine Parmigiana, which I had wanted to try for a long time.  This recipe could also be made with courgettes.

I looked at several recipes, including traditional Italian recipes, but settled on @zoe's recipe because I liked the idea of adding lentils to the tomato sauce to make it more filling as a main meal.

@Zoe's recipe is copied below, with my notes in italics

Serves: 4 (with leftovers)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Plant Count: 7
Diet: Vegetarian (Vegan with swaps)
Fibre: 10–15g per serving

3 aubergines, sliced lengthways into 1cm-thick slices (or 5-6 courgettes)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (14 oz)
1 x 400g tin black or green lentils, drained (14 oz)
30g basil leaves, torn, plus a few extra for garnish 
125g ball of mozzarella, torn (4.4 oz)
20g finely grated Parmesan cheese (0.7 oz)
Salt and black pepper

Top-ups: Kimchi, Extra basil
Swaps: Black-eyed beans for lentils, Vegan cheese alternative

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment and lay out the aubergine slices in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil all over. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and soft. I took the more traditional Italian route and shallow fried my aubergine slices in olive oil until golden brown, but it does use a lot of olive oil.

Meanwhile, place a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onion in the remaining oil for 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chilli, and cook for 1 minute more. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and lentils, then half-fill the tomato tin with water and add this to the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the torn basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes more, then season with salt and pepper.
Spoon a third of the ragu mixture into the base of a 20–23cm (8–9 inch) square ovenproof dish (or similar) and top with a layer of aubergine. Repeat this twice more, then finish with the torn mozzarella and grated Parmesan. I used a 200g ball of mozzarella which covered the top layer of aubergine really well once melted.

Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown. Serve with some steamed greens or salad on the side.

Tips and Techniques

Cheese alternatives: For a vegan version, swap the mozzarella and parmesan for vegan alternatives.

Meal prep: This dish works great as leftovers. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days, and reheat in the oven or airfryer (180C for 10-15 minutes) to regain the crispy texture.

Customise your veg: Feel free to add more vegetables like spinach, bell peppers, carrots or celery to the ragu to up the plant count.

FAQs

Can I use other types of beans instead of lentils? Absolutely! You can swap lentils for black-eyed beans, chickpeas, or even cannellini beans.

Can I prepare this dish ahead of time? Yes, you can assemble the dish and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake

Can I freeze the leftovers? Yes, you can freeze portions of the cooked aubergine parmigiana in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven for best results.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Quince Gin

I was given some rather underripe quince, possibly Japonica, but they were too immature to tell apart.  So the most fitting end to them.

700ml fine
120g granulated
375g quince 

Wash the quince and rub off any furry coating to the skin.  Quarter the quince and add everything into a large preserving jar.  Mix well until the sugar is dissolved and leave in a cool dark place for 2-4 weeks, checking for the first few days that the sugar has dissolved.

Strain into a clean bottle after the 4 weeks is up.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Chilli Bean Salad

A very quick healthy canned bean salad, inspired by a reduced to clear pack of coriander.

Serves 2

340g tin of sweetcorn, drained
390g tin of black beans, drained

400g tin of kidney beans, drained

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 a large lemon

30g coriander, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin 

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

Salt & pepper 

Simply mix all the ingredients together.  Ideally this salad should be left for 20 minutes to overnight for the flavours develop.  But it is still great even if eaten straight after mixing.

I ate mine as lunch with nothing else.  It is surprisingly filling, thanks to all the fibre.  But you could add 200g cooked pearl barley to bulk it out for a more filling lunch.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Sweet Potato & Lentil Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny is a curried vegetable soup from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, taking it's name from the Tamil words for 'pepper' and 'water'.  The traditional Indian version is vegan, but the British of the Raj liked to add chicken or mutton - Mulligatawny with Lamb.

This vegan Mulligatawny is from diabetes.org.uk's recipes, with a few tweaks of mine.

Serves 4 (original recipe suggests 8 servings)

2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 carrot, diced
1 sweet potato, diced (250g)
400g tin tomatoes
75g red lentils
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed

1cm root ginger, roughly chopped (optional)
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp medium curry paste (or powder)
1 litre boiling water
75g brown rice

Soften the onion in the olive oil in a soup pan for about 5 minutes until it starts to brown.

Stir in the carrot and sweet potato (I did not peel either, as the soup is liquidised), and cook for a further 5 minutes stirring regularly.

Add tomatoes, lentils, garlic, stock cube, curry paste/powder and 1 litre of boiling water. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  I added cooked rice at this stage, not realising the recipe said to add it after the soup had been liquidised, for texture.

Blend the soup with a stick blender or food processor until smooth.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Staffordshire Oatcakes (Oat Pancakes)

Staffordshire Oatcakes are soft ground out pancakes traditionally eaten with the ingredients of a full English breakfast, but are great for an additive free wrap for lunch.

These are made with simple ingredients, including dried yeast, but have a better flavour if left to yeast further by leaving to stand overnight before cooking.

Makes 5 pancakes

125g oatmeal, or ground porridge oats

75g wholemeal bread flour

50g plain white flour

1 tsp dried yeast (that does not need to be activate first)

1/2 tsp salt

250ml water

250ml milk, or use water again

If making the oatcakes the same day as the batter, heat the water to 38C (you should be able to hold a finger in the water without it hurting).  If leaving the batter overnight don't worry about the temperature of the water.

Whisk all the ingredients together. Leave for about 15 minutes until the surface of the batter is bubbly.

When ready to cook, heat a pancake pan over a medium high heat.  Brush the pan with oil and pour in a large ladleful of batter.  Tilt the pan quickly to ensure the batter covers the pancake pan evenly.

Cook for 1.5-2 minutes until the top is dry with no wet batter.  Turn with a fish slice and cook the other side for the same amount of time as the first.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Spicy Aubergine & Bean Soup

I was gifted several large aubergines that needed eating.  The one that didn't find it's way into an Aubergine Parmigiana or Babaganoush has been made into a warming hearty soup on this frosty day.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large aubergine, cut into 2 cm cubes

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

400g tin of borlotti beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

100g roasted red peppers, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp hot chilli flakes

1 tsp red wine vinegar

500ml recently boiled water

2 vegetable stock cubes, crumbled

Chopped flat leaf parsley or coriander to garnish (optional)

In a soup pan, fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until it starts to soften.

Add in the aubergine and fry for another 10 minutes until lightly browned.  The aubergine will absorb the olive oil.  You can add more olive oil if you wish, or keep moving it around the pan to brown.

When the aubergine is browned, stir in the garlic and cumin seeds, and then the rest of the ingredients apart from the parsley/coriander if using.

Simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped herbs if you have any.  The herbs not only add a nice contrast of colour, but another layer of Middle Eastern flavour.

This soup can be thickened into a stew by adding 100g red lentils or 50g soup pasta with the wet ingredients, or simply reducing the water by half.  Serve over couscous or rice if serving as a stew.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Zoe Science & Nutrition Baked Root Vegetable Medley

With beetroot and half a butternut squash to use up on New Year's Eve, and a vegetarian to cater for, I tried this recipe I saw on @Zoe instagram account.  In spite forgetting to set an oven timer due to the jollity of board games and sparkling wine, it turned out well.  I had the last serving today on homemade wholegrain sourdough toast drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side 

1 sweet potato

1 small squash

1 beetroot

5 Jerusalem artichokes (didn't use - used several small beetroot and large sweet potato instead)

1 handful cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 10 minutes

400g tin of white beans (recipe said drained, but I didn't) 

1 tsp miso paste

a few sprigs of thyme

2 cloves of garlic

100ml milk of choice (used the bean liquid instead)

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Thinly slice your vegetables using a knife or mandolin and layer into an ovenproof dish with fresh thyme.

In a blender, combine the beans, soaked cashews, garlic, milk and miso paste into a pourable sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Cover the vegetables with the sauce and push down to ensure they are submerged. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and place in the oven for around an hour until the vegetables are soft and the top is golden and crispy.

My tips; brush some additional olive oil over the bottom and sides of your baking dish.  Also, my vegetables were not submerged by the sauce so I covered the dish with some aluminium foil.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Sourdough Starter

Starting your own sourdough starter is child's play.  If no-one has any active starter they can spare you, simply mix bread flour and water and leave it to ferment for around 5 days.

I use wholemeal bread flour for my starter, even if making a white sourdough loaf.  I find it ferments quicker and is not as sour as white bread flour.

50g x 4  wholemeal bread flour
50g x 4 lukewarm water

Day 1: Mix 50g bread lour and 50g lukewarm water in a clear lidded container. Mix well and and leave, with the lid loosely on, at room temperature for 24 hrs.

Day 2: Mix another 50g bread flour and 50g lukewarm into Day 1's mixture. Leave, with the lid loosely on, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.

Day 3: Mix another 50g bread flour and 50g lukewarm into into your growing starter, and leave for another for another 24 hrs.

Day 4: You should hopefully start to see your starter becoming more active, with bubbles visible through the clear sides of the container. Mix in a further 50g bread flour and 50g lukewarm water, and leave for another for another 24 hrs.

Day 5: Your starter should be very active/bubbly now.  If not, continue to feed it daily until it does. 

When your starter is ready, pour off 300g (or whatever your recipe requires) for the loaf you are about to bake.  Feed the remaining starter with 50g bread flour and 50g tap water and store in the fridge for 24 hours before you want to use it.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Wholegrain Sourdough

Wholegrain sourdough does not have the big cosmetic 'holes' that have become associated with artisan'white sourdough.  Instead it is a dense, filling, high fibre bread. 

I sell homemade white sourdough, but have begun making this wholegrain sourdough loaf for my partner and I.  As with sourdough, it is a lengthy process, but it is mostly hands off and requires no tricky shaping or turning out.  If you don't have any sourdough starter you could have your own homegrown starter in 5 days, and sourdough on your New Year's resolutions.

Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves
Preparation time: 36 hours (hands on time about 30 minutes in total)
Cooking time: 1 hour

300g active sourdough starter

250g wholemeal flour 

250g wholegrain flour (I use Sainsbury's Wholegrain Seeded Flour, but intend experimenting with varying quantities of wholemeal rye flour, malted flour, spelt flour)

25g mixed seeds

10g salt

300g warm water

I have based the timings of this loaf around a working day, and baking the loaf first thing in the morning.

Two nights before (36 hours before) you want to bake the loaf, take the starter out of the fridge and leave on the counter to warm up.

The following morning (8am - 24 hours before), feed your starter with 50/50 wholemeal flour and water to make 300g starter plus about 20g to keep back as reserved starter. Leave the starter on the counter throughout the day.

Late afternoon (5-6pm - 4 hours before you go to bed), weigh out 300g of starter into a large mixing bowl.  Whisk in the water with a fork, and then stir in the rest of the ingredients.  Mix well with the fork then use your hand to ensure everything comes together.  You should have a sticky but stiff dough.  Wholemeal flour absorbs more water than white bread flour so you may need to add more water to make a workable dough that you can push your fingers into with some force but holds it shape when folded into a ball.

Cover with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere warm like near a radiator, in the airing cupboard or in a sunny window.

Every hour for the next 4 hours, with a wet hand, stretch and fold the dough in half onto itself, top down, bottom up, left to right, and right to left. Recover and leave for another hour.

After the final stretch and fold, tip out onto a lightly floured surface, stretch out to a rectangle and then roll up like a Swiss roll to a sausage shape to fit in a loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper.

Loosely cover with a large plastic bag, with enough room for the loaf to rise without touching the plastic, and leave to rise overnight in a cool place. I've begun making this in winter, so leaving the loaf to rise in the kitchen overnight with the heating off has been perfect. In summer I may have leave it in the fridge overnight if it rises too much, although wholegrain flours don't rise as much as white so this loaf may never overflow it's loaf tin.

The following morning preheat your oven to 230C.  Once up to temperature, place the loaf in it's tin on the middle shelf and bake for 20 minutes at 230C and 20 minutes at 200C. 

After 20 minutes at 200C, tip the loaf out of the loaf tin and remove the greaseproof paper.  

Turn the oven down to 180C and bake for a final 20 minutes.

Baking lore advises to wait a couple of hours for loaves to cool to body temperature before slicing. I'm not entirely sure why. From experience hot/warm loaves are harder to slice, with the bread often tearing. But the urge to taste a freshly baked loaf is hard to resist...

Curried Bubble & Squeak (Potato Cakes) with Coriander Relish

Got leftover boiled or mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and greens? I thought I'd jazz up Bubble & Squeak with some curry spices and some coriander relish to use up some odd leftovers.

Serves 2

200g potato

Handful of cooked carrot, cabbage, Brussel sprouts etc

1 tsp garam masala or curry powder 

1 tbsp plain or chickpea flour

2 tbsp olive oil for frying

Relish

30g pack of coriander 

1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cm ginger, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes 

2 tbsp dried mint

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 

1-2 tbsp water

Mash the potato well, before adding in the finely chopped vegetables and spice.  Do not add any oil or butter as you need a stiff mash that you can shape into four 'burgers' and keep their shape.  Add a little flour to the mash if needed to make it stiffer.

Fry the potato cakes in the olive oil in a non-stick pan over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes each side or until golden brown.

Whilst frying the potato cakes, whizz together all the relish ingredients until you have a pourable, double cream-like, consistency. Add more water and vinegar if needed to get a pourable relish.

Dip the potato cakes into the relish or pour over.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Braised Red Cabbage

Quick braised red cabbage to accompany our Christmas Dinner of slow roast mutton. The other half of the red cabbage went in Red Cabbage Coleslaw.

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced
350g red cabbage (half a red cabbage), thinly sliced

1 large cooking apple, cored and diced

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

large pinch of nutmeg1 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp cranberry sauce optional

Soften the onion over a medium heat in the olive oil in a saute pan for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the cabbage and the spices and fry for a a few minutes until shiny.

Add the apple, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Stir in well then cover, turn down the heat to the lowest, and cook gently for half an hour.

Stir in the cranberry sauce if using, adding a little water if the cabbage is drying out a little.

Serve warm with mutton, pork, duck...

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade

Berry & Seed Yoghurt

There are so many suggested high fibre, gut friendly, longevity foods that I somehow feel there are not enough days of the week to fit them in.  My current fave Fruit & Seed Yoghurt breakfast has a plant count of 11, plus probiotic yoghurt

80g frozen summer fruits (blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries, blackberries) 

100g greek yoghurt

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

1 tbsp mixed seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, golden linseeds, hemp seeds)

1 tbsp organic porridge oats

1 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Ideally, mix everything together the night before.  Failing that, microwave the berries for 1 minute, then stir in the rest of the ingredients.  The summer fruits are very tart so I like to add a little maple syrup.

Instagram: leesashomemade

Facebook: Leesa's Homemade