I am also making a curried cauliflower and spinach dish and it reminds me of the time in the late 70's when I was working as a Head Chef at The BBC but also did volunteer work at St Martin's in-the -fields Church, in London.
They had a "soup kitchen" for some of London's homeless and at the weekends I helped them cook & deliver.
They also did fund raisers and it was at one of those I made a typical British curried vegetables (recipe..times have changed as I am sure British recipes have) and rice for over 100 servings.
The curry powder was a complete spice mix, and there was no heat to the dish but everyone enjoyed it, including one of the guests who happened to be the chef to HRH The Queen Mother; he came back to the kitchen to let me know how much he enjoyed the curry and was sure "his boss" would have also....strange to think that 10 years later and having lived in Kuwait, France, Australia & Spain, that I would be at Kensington Palace to meet with the Equerry for HRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, having been referred there by Sarah Fergusson soon to be then, HRH Duchess of York..to work as their personal chef! ( I didn't take the job as I wanted to travel and was advised by their equerry that they didn't do much overseas travel then..I continued to work as a freelance personal chef in London, and traveled to Europe to do just dinner parties or special lunches for my clients...more to this story of course.)...
The curried Cauliflower & Spinach I am making tomorrow has little in common with the dish I made all those years ago, this one has all the spices individually mixed, ground, cooked in hot oil to release their oils, no wheat flour added, the rice is brown rice and the vegetables are al dente.
I am also making roasted vegetables with chickpea pancakes..these are fantastically simple to make but have to be cooked in very hot pans and they make a mess of the stove but are well worth it.
You have to get the chickpea flour from a good Indian grocery store as it is roasted a special way before grinding very fine, I think it is ground in India.
You add the flour to the water and mix well, I also add fennel or cumin seeds, sea salt and ground turmeric..that is all.
Once mixed it has to stand for 2 hours to thicken and allow the flour to "bloom".
Just before use beat in a couple of tbsp grape seed or canola oil ( high heat oil)
It is still very watery when used..in a lightly greased thick bottomed skillet ( I used grape seed oil & 3 pans..tipping oil from one to the other)
Flip over just once then cool on tea towels.( Not paper kitchen towels as they will stick to the pancake)
These are fantastic either eaten like bread with the roasted vegetables, or filled with the cool vegetables then heated in a 375f oven for about 20 mins and served like crepes, as they are naturally gluten free they are very delicate but very flavorful.
I am also making some complex salads....
a watercress ( I always think of Spring in Lancashire and being able to pick fresh watercress out of streams when we went tadpoling...now most of these streams have vanished I expect) with fresh fennel, walnuts and an avocado white bean dressing ( the white bean is blended with lemon juice, and olive oil,then chunks of fresh ripe avocado is added..like a chunky Green Goddess Dressing, also keeps the avocado green) the peppery flavor of the watercress goes well with this mild dressing.
And a strawberry & almond salad..Strawberries go very well in a salad particularly when mixed with fresh black pepper.( something else from the Ibiza Summer days) this dressing is made with grain mustard, raw almond butter, and lemon juice & is served on a bed of Romaine lettuce and field spinach ( not the baby stuff grown under glass which has no flavor).
The desserts are fresh banana and dried peach bread and cranberry vanilla oatmeal cookies.
I will post more photos tomorrow before delivery
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| Fresh Watercress..store wet |
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| Own grown Broccoli Greens |
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| Garnet Yams ( Sweet Potato) |
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| Eggplant, scallions, cauliflowers and parsley air drying |
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| bean mix for sprouting |
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| The broccoli soup |
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| The carrot and sweet potato soup |
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| (2) Black bean base |
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| a great alternative to any peanut butter recipe |
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| Black eyed pea with collards soup |
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| quick sauteing eggplant for the "lasagne" |
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| layering the eggplant and zucchini with fresh tomato and pepper sauce and fresh mozzarella prior to baking |
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| Parmesan cheese topped completed "lasagne" |
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| Fresh field spinach air drying |
The roasted sunflower seed butter is identical to peanut butter without the allergy threat.
ReplyDeleteTry and find it or use roasted almond butter..high in Vit E.