Mushroom Pie

September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 / Frankie Mouche / 2 Comments

Autumn is here and that means only one thing: pie! With that in mind I thought I’d share one of my old pie recipes with you. Instead of going for creamy, I’ve gone for a super savoury rich sauce which will have your taste buds dancing on the ceiling.

Let’s get the ingredients sorted:

A tablespoon of all purpose flour
A tablespoon of corn flour
Two carrots, peeled and diced
One onion, peeled and diced
One stick of celery, diced
Pre-rolled puff pastry (I used Jus Rol.)
Vegetable stock (I used a tablespoon of paste.)
Salt & pepper to taste
Two different types of mushrooms. (I used chesnut and dried shitake.)
Vegetable oil
5 bulbs of garlic, peeled and diced
Tablespoon of dried parsley

Let’s get going:

Chop and mix the mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the vegetable stock and all purpose flour. Heat some vegetable oil in a pan and add the mixture. (The picture below is before I added the flour and mixed.)

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Stir fry for about three minutes, or until mushrooms are soft. Remove the mushroom mixture from the pan and place in a bowl of about 250ml of water. This will create a lovely rich stock.

Now place the onions, garlic, carrot, parsley and celery into the pan, making sure you scrape up all that lovely flavour left by the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms and stock back in. Mix everything together and then add the corn flour, mixing continually. Turn the pan right down, cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

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Check on the mixture occasionally to make sure it has not become too thick. If it has, add some water and stir.

Once the carrots and celery are nice and soft, take the pan off of the heat and allow to cool.

Roll the pastry out and cut into shapes larger than the dishes you plan to use. Heat the oven to about 3/4 of top heat. Fill the dishes and cover the mixture with the puff pastry. Don’t forget to poke some holes in the pastry to allow steam to escape.

After 20 minutes in the oven, your pie(s) should look like this:

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Serve with green beans and mashed potato. Enjoy as a small pot pie or a a huge slab of deliciousness.

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I hope you enjoy this recipe. It’s one of my favourites!

Frankie 🙂

Brunch Burrito

October 10, 2016October 10, 2016 / Frankie Mouche / 1 Comment

I’m a big fan of jack fruit and this recipe is perfect for it. A burrito needs to be flavoursome and filling. Jack fruit takes on any flavour you give it but like tofu, doesn’t taste of anything on it’s own. Let’s pack in the herbs and spices!

Spice mix

1 tsp dried chilli
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp smoked paprika
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp cumin

Make up your spice mix and place to one side.

Filling

1 onion, chopped
2 peppers, chopped
1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained
100 grams of cooked brown rice (cook this yourself first if needs be.)
1 avocado
Juice of half a lime
Salt
Half a tsp of dried chilli
BBQ sauce
1 tin of jack fruit in salted water. (Do not get the one in syrup.)
Pack of wholemeal tortillas

Method

Dry fry the onion and peppers until they start to soften.
Add the sweetcorn and brown rice to the pan and mix in.
Turn heat to low and stir every couple of minutes.

Now it’s time for the jack fruit. I warn you if you haven’t used it before, it’s some weird stuff. Drain the can in a sieve. It should look like this:

Weird huh?

Pull it apart into shreds and add to the pan. (This can take some time if you haven’t done it before.)

Add your spice bowl and mix in.

Keep the heat on low, stirring occasionally.
Now let’s make some awesome mashed avocado! Peel the avocado and mash with the chilli, lime and salt to taste.
Heat yourself a tortilla in the microwave or in the oven.

Mash some avocado onto your warm tortilla then place the filling along the middle. You may wish to add some sauce now too. I used Levi Root’s BBQ sauce.

Wrap into a burrito by folding both ends in. Then slice down the middle to make it more manageable to eat.

Eat that baby warm. I managed two before I was stuffed up to my eyeballs.

Variation: Don’t add the jack fruit until wrapping burrito. Make sure you give it some flavour though. 😉

Where do I get jack fruit?

You’ll often find jack fruit in Asian supermarkets and the world food isle of the bigger chain supermarkets, depending on where you live.

Apple & Rhubarb Crumble

October 2, 2016October 2, 2016 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Yay! It’s autumn! Leaves on the ground, a chill in the air and a yummy pudding for your tummy.

I like to keep my baking really simple because I do not excel at it. I’ve lost count of the amount of desserts I’ve tried to make and they have turned out as a pile of slop. Tasty slop mind.

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Ingredients for filling:

5 stems of fresh rhubarb or a bag of frozen. (I used the last of my home grown stuff.)
1 apple, diced. (You can peel if you like, but I’m not fancy.)
A handful of frozen strawberries.
1 TBSP sugar.
1 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP all spice
1 TSP ground cloves
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 TSP vegetable oil

Ingredients for topping:

Enough plain flour to cover the filling, depending on what size dish you are using. (I used about 400 grams.)
2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP semi-solid coconut oil or vegan butter.
1 TSP almond extract
1 TSP good quality vanilla extract

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Method:

Heat up a pan with the vegetable oil.
Fry the chopped rhubarb and apple for 2 minutes before adding the sugar.
Stir continuously until the sugar and oil start to form a caramel.
Now add the spices and maple syrup. Mix to insure everything is fully covered and turn off the pan.
Add the frozen strawberries at this point but don’t mix in.
Pour into a baking dish and turn on the oven to pre-heat.
Now get all the topping ingredients and place in a large bowl.
Rub the mixture through your finger and thumb, to create breadcrumbs.
Distribute the crumb over the top of the fruit mixture and place in the oven on a medium heat for about 25 minutes.
Serve either on it’s own or with vegan ice cream.

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Certainly not healthy, but bloody tasty. Get it in your face.

Chorizo & Rosemary Pearl Barley Risotto

March 28, 2016March 28, 2016 / Frankie Mouche / 4 Comments

I love risotto and I love chorizo, but I’d honestly not thought of combining them until recently. I’m so glad I did because the flavour and texture of this dish is unrivalled.

Ingredients

1 pack of VBites chorizo style pieces
1 large onion
2 large cloves of garlic
Approx 300g of dry pearl barley
1 litre of vegetable stock
1 stalk of fresh rosemary
1 can of higher end chopped tomatoes

First up get a nice big pan on the hob, warming up. Soy based chorizo isn’t as fatty as it’s pig’s flesh alternative, but it still produces a small amount of oil when heated up. Pour the entire contents of your chorizo pack into the pan and allow to frazzle for about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and place to one side in a bowl.

Now the pan should have a thin coating of oily, spicy, paprika goodness. Chuck in your chopped onion and minced garlic. Allow them to brown a little before adding in the pearl barley. Stir well ensuring that the barley is well coated. Add in your chopped tomatoes. ( Look I don’t normally go in for high end products, but I would recommend a higher end tinned chopped tomatoes in this recipe, because they tend to use vine tomatoes and they give a more intense flavour.) Mix and then add all of the vegetable stock. Unlike arborio rice risotto you can chuck it all in at once, but you need to sir it often.

You may have to add extra water as the sauce thickens because the pearl barley takes about 30 minutes to cook.

When you’re happy that the barley is cooked and the sauce has thickened to your liking, add the chopped rosemary and chorizo. Turn off the heat and serve.

Full of punchy flavours for you to enjoy. X

Vegan Cheese & Chutney Parcels

January 19, 2016January 19, 2016 / Frankie Mouche / 2 Comments

I don’t very often cook with pastry. It’s far too much like baking for me. However with the availability of fresh vegan pastry now widespread, I thought I’d give it a go. Blog 1

Ingredients:

1 packet of JusRol fresh filo pastry
Poppy seeds
5 small new potatoes
1 carrot, peeleds
A small handful of curly kale
Caramelised red onion chutney
1 teaspoon thyme
Black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 block of Violife vegan cheese, grated

Method:

Get the oven on a medium heat.
Dice the potatoes and carrots and place in a pan of water, allowing to boil before turning the heat off.
Heat a pan, drain the potatoes and carrots and place in the pan with the kale and chutney.
Stir in the herbs and spices. Stir occasionally until the potatoes and carrots are soft.
Roll out the pastry and cut into squares. Place a large spoonful of the pan mixture into the centre of the square and top with cheese.
Fold the edges up over the mixture and sprinkle with poppy seeds. (You should have enough for four large parcels.)
Place in the oven for 30 minutes.
Serve warm with ketchup.

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If you want to make your pastry, feel free. This isn’t Masterchef so I’ll take that short cut. 🙂

Blogs on Mushroom Laksa and The Vegan Police coming soon.

Spiced Butterbean & Sweetcorn Soup

October 4, 2015 / Frankie Mouche / 1 Comment

It’s certainly Autumn here in the Welsh valleys. I’m wrapped up nice and warm with a cup of tea whilst I write this.

With the cold in mind, I came up with a delicious and hearty soup to warm your cockles.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 can of chopped tomatoes (and then fill the can back up for a can of water to add too.)

1 can of sweetcorn, drained

A large handful of dry red lentils

1 tbsp of chilli flakes

1 tbsp of cumin

Salt and pepper to flavour

1 can of butterbeans, drained

A handful of fresh baby leaf spinach

A dollop of vegan mayo to cool if needed

Method:

In a large pan, fry the onion and garlic in the oil for approximately 3 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan, with all the herbs and spices, mixing well and keeping the heat medium.
Add the lentils and water and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
Now add the sweetcorn and butterbeans, mixing throughout.
Does it smell great yet? If not, add more herbs and spices to get it to your liking.
Turn up the heat for the last five minutes of cooking and add the baby leaf spinach.
Enjoy with a good dollop of creamy mayo, sour cream or your own homemade aquafaba goodness.

This dish is full of protein and will fill you up for sure.

Jerk Pulled “Pork” with Banana Salsa & Peach Cobbler Pudding

August 30, 2015 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

This was a bit off the cuff. I just decided to take pictures of a two course meal I cooked my friends. The pictures therefore aren’t amazing, nor is there enough of them showing different elements. I’d like to apologise for that now. However, I couldn’t deny you this recipe because it was so damn good.

Ingredients

Salt

300 g brown sugar

4 cans of braised tofu

4 tbsp of jerk seasoning or hot fajita spice

A small glass of pineapple juice

50 g golden syrup

2 cans of black beans or pinto beans (Or a mix of both)

Lots of soft flour tortillas

Natural soya yoghurt (I just used one small pot)

3 medium bananas, not quite ripe, peeled and chopped

1 red onion, peeled and chopped

2 just ripe avocados

Juice of half a lemon

Juice of half a lime

Fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Method

An hour before, mix the salt, sugar and drained tofu in a large bowl and leave to marinate.

Once the hour is up, mix in the jerk seasoning, pineapple and golden syrup into the bowl.

Place in a hot pan and stir occasionally until the liquid starts to evaporate. Then turn down to a low heat whilst you break apart the tofu into pulled strips.

Leave to slowly cook off the rest of the juices whilst you make your salsa,

Put the diced banana in a bowl with onion. Peel, chop and stone the avocado and add that too. Mix in the lemon, lime and coriander and you’re done.

Reheat your beans and warm up your tortillas and your done.

Check it out.

Serve with natural yoghurt for a cooling effect.

My friends had 3 each of these bad bois. I was stuffed after two.

When this has gone down you can serve your pudding. Obviously you would have had this prepared and in the oven before hand because you’re sensible like that right?

Being me, this is a super simple pudding and not too heavy on sugar.

Ingredients

2 tins of sliced peaches in juice

The zest of one lemon

2 tbsp golden syrup

140 g plain flour

50 g porridge oats

25 g cold vegan butter (I used vitalite.)

Method

Get your oven on at about 200 degrees.

Drain the peaches and reserve the juice. Tip them into a deep baking dish. Toss with the lemon rind and 1 tbsp golden syrup.

In a bowl, combine the oats, flour and butter. Add the remaining golden syrup and peach juice.

Mix with a spoon until you have a crumbly mixture.

Scatter over the peaches and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with any leftover natural soya yoghurt you have.

I hope the pictures weren’t too bad and you have a rough idea of what I’m on about.

Enjoy. X

Spiced Squash Pasta: A Thai-Italian Fusion

August 23, 2015August 23, 2015 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

This is entertaining made easy and it’s extra tasty.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Red curry paste to taste (I used roughly 100g)

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 can of coconut milk

Fresh coriander

1 tbsp lemon grass paste

500g tagliatelle pasta

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pan or wok.
Add the curry paste, squash and lemongrass. Fry for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat.
Pour in the coconut milk, stir well and bring to the boil.
Allow to simmer for about 25 minutes. Add extra paste and coconut milk if sauce becomes too thick.
When the squash is almost done, cook the pasta according to packet instructions, then drain well.
Pour half the sauce from the pan into a big bowl and mix with the pasta.
Plate up and place remaining squash and fresh coriander on top.
Add siracha if you fancy some extra spice, which I always do.

Cheesy Tofu Pie

July 29, 2015July 29, 2015 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Traditionally in the UK the summer seems to only last a couple of weeks and then we have lots of rain and a few mild days before it gets cold again. Well at least for the past ten years anyway and they tell us the climate isn’t changing yet! This means we still get to have pies in the summer to keep us warm and fill us up.

I wouldn’t say this is a particularly healthy recipe, but it’s a lot better than it’s non-vegan counterpart.

The best thing about my recipes is that you don’t need anything fancy to make them work. All the ingredients should already be in your house or easily available.

Ingredients:

2 tins of braised tofu (I got mine from Holland & Barrett.)
1 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of vegetable bouillon powder
Half a carton of passata
Water as needed
2 large potatoes
Half a block of Violife original cheese, grated
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon Vitalite dairy free spread
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

Method:

Get the oven on full whack.
Have a pan of salted water heating up to boil.
Fry the onion, garlic and carrots in an oven proof pan, for about three minutes.
Empty the contents of the tofu tin into the pan, including the juices. Break up the tofu into smaller pieces and allow everything to simmer for about two minutes.
Add the bay leaves, red wine vinegar and passata and turn down the heat. Allow to bubble gently for about 10 minutes until the carrots have softened.
Taste the mixture. Add salt and pepper if desired. Turn off the heat.
Slice the potatoes thinly and boil in salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and place back in the sauce pan where you mix in the Vitalite and any extra salt and pepper you require.
Place on top of the tofu mixture, layering if you need to. Cover in grated Violife and nutritional yeast.
Put in the oven, in the oven proof pan for approximately 15 minutes or until the top has a nice crunch.

Enjoy on it’s own or with some steamed vegetables. It’s very filling!

Chocolate Mousse

July 1, 2015 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

It’s really hot in the UK right now. Like, we are literally having a heatwave. This is unusual for us so of course I need to make something yummy and refreshing to deal with the heat.

A chocolate mousse garnished with orange and lime sounds perfect.

This is really easy to make which is great for me because I am absolutely rubbish when it comes to sweet food.

Here’s the ingredients:

1 avocado, peeled

A shot glass full of soya milk

2 tablespoons of coco powder

Here’s what you do:

Blend it all together

Put in fridge for about 5 hours

Garnish with lime and orange

Eat in your garden in the sun

Feed to your Beard.

With this little treat you get good fats without tasting the avocado at all. If it’s not sweet enough for you, you can always add a teaspoon of agave nectar, golden syrup or sugar. I liked it just the way it is.