Tom Yum Soup.

Tom Yum Soup.
That moment when you open the cupboards and inspiration just jumps out at you.. well nearly. I found a tin of coconut milk, some dried lemongrass and a chilli. I typed in to Google "thai vegetarian soups" and Tom Yum Soup was discovered!
I followed the recipe as much as the cupboard ingredients would allow, if I was to make again I would not use dried lemongrass, I would also purchase a fresh lime and soy sauce, this was definitely missing in the final taste test!

I am aiming to try different soups from around the world but I need better planning, as the nights get colder and you want something comforting in your belly - this will be a great experiment.

Christmas is coming.... honestly..

Why does it start earlier and earlier.....
I love Christmas as much as the next person, in fact probably more - I love the build up to it, the dinner parties, the feast on Christmas Day but really with this heatwave and the sight of chocolate santa's it is throwing me right off my seasons!

Eton Mess.

Here is the Eton Mess I was talking about - one of my three meals in Manchester. The waiter told us that in Social Rehab, the boar across the street they do an Eton Mess cocktail. What would be in it?
We thought maybe Chambord, vanilla ice cream, cream,strawberries, crushed meringue and I thought about Baileys?? Then to top it off place a meringue on the top of the glass and fill with eton mess.
Here is the picture of the Eton Mess from the Market Restaurant Manchester.

And it was delicious!

If anyone knows how to make eton mess cocktails please do send your answers on a postcard...

My first restaurant review..

I love Manchester's restaurant and bar scene. I have ventured down the M602 twice this week, once for a Birthday night out and another to see Peter Kay with the boy. I don't think I have ever gone into detail about the boy's eating habits, he can eat 6 meals a day; breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/dinner/snack. When we go on a day out together I think it rude not to keep up with him. This meant on our afternoon trip to Manchester I ate 3 meals...

After a disappointing halloumi salad in the Pitcher and Piano on Deansgate Lock, a fabulous eton mess in Market Restaurant in the Northern Quarter, we went to Wasabi Sushi and Noodle Bar...

Wasabi Sushi and Noodle Bar in Manchester's printworks is like being in Tokyo, there was a Japanese tribute band singing En Vogue's Don't let go on the TV screens. There is the conveyor belt with sushi dishes on just like Yo Sushi! but without the sell by dates on. Then there is a lift to the toilet where a woman waits at the toilet door and gives you a key to get into the toilet. OK.
The meal is 2 options of a set menu - 1 6 plates of sushi from the belt, 2 3 sushi and a noodle dish. The boy went for 1 and I opted for 2.
The picture you can see is of the Tempura Noodle Udon, I also made a rookie mistake by opting for the spicy soup. (In my home cooking I can now eat a 1/4 of a chilli in my dishes so I think I have an asbestos mouth) This is a big mistake.
I think I have to come to the conclusion that I am not a fan of Japanese food, although this restaurant was really authentic in contrast to the european/japanese style of YO SUSHI! I just don't like udon noodles, half a boiled egg in my soup and seaweed.

Sorry.

(note to self if I am to be a restaurant reviewer I need more details)

Yummy Vegetarian Toad in the Hole!

I had a long conversation with my sister about whether toad in the hole is pastry or yorkshire puddings, I said the yorkshire puddings she said pastry.
I did a twitter survey - the lovely twitteries said yorkshire puddings.

By the way you can follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/voguevegetarian - blatant plug there sorry, now back to the food.

I began by halfving some cherry tomatoes and laying them on a baking tray with only a sprinkling of sea salt. I left them on gas mark 4 in the oven whilst I carried on with my prep.
This way of cooking tomatoes is perfect for a topping on a main meal, bruschetta or for garnish on a soup. You could pop them in the fridge for a healthy snack if you wanted, they last for ever!

In a heavy based pan I fried sliced garlic and red onion in some olive oiland placed six Linda Mccartney sausages in with some more olive oil, chilli flakes and rock salt. Once the onions were cooked I put a tin of tomatoes, some chopped fresh tomatoes and tomatoe puree into the mix.
I left this to cook with some fresh basil thrown in for 40 mins until the sauce thickens.

Whilst this cooks I put some roast potatoes into a baking tray with plenty of olive oil and sea salt. I cook my roasties from raw, I don't par boil them - its up to you!

Cook you ready made yorkshire puddings for a few minutes and then you are good to go!

Sprinkle on the cherry toms for a bit of a kick and ...

Enjoy!

My Perfect Brunch.

This was when I decided to detox, it lasted a day and began and ended with a cup of hot water and a lice of lemon.

What brunch is worth its weight in gold if it is not accompanied by the latest edition of Vogue?

This is a super duper omelette. It has all of the goodness in it to set you up for the day. I began by frying off 4 varieties of seeds in a non stick frying pan, after my attempt at the multi seed bread ealier on in the blog I have now every type of seed imaginable. I then added 3 egg whites and 2 egge yolks, some spinach, yellow pepper and chopped red onion. Tossed it about in the frying pan, I say tossed as the omelette didnt really hold its shape. I am going to investigate why this happened and let you know.

I halved some baby cherry tomatoes, drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and you are done!

Enjoy!

Amercian style pancakes with greek yoghurt, blueberries and honey.

This was a real treat of a breakfast.
The pancakes were simple to prepare but the key is a good non-stick pan, this is vital to the success of them.
I would say that this style of pancakes is maybe, dare I say it.. but not so bad for you? The combination of egge whites and no added sugar makes these a delicious Sunday morning breakfast. Top with dollops of greek yoghurt, blueberries and a drizzle of honey.
Perfect!

Must update blog more...

So here goes...

A big deep breath and onwards with the updates..

Morocan Tangine with yellow baby plum tomatoes and baby aubergines.

Moroocan tagines are a tasty dinner and perfect for this rainy dull weather, they should be a warming dish full of spices and exotic vegetables.
This was pretty easy to prepare and even easier to eat!
I will say this though, it was difficult to photograph. I had to add a touch of colour with some peppery rocket on the top. I hope you like it.

I made the tagine by frying off sliced onions, plenty of garlic and some olive oil with cumin, tumeric and paprika. You want the spices to flavour the oil and the onions and get the garlic to add to this richness. Add baby aubergines, sliced down the middle, yellow baby plum tomatoes, chesnut mushrooms and the added extra, sliced Halloumi! I did this so the salty-ness of the halloumi would add to the interesting flavours.

In another pan cook the cous cous in vegetable stock instead of boiling water, this makes the cous cous super tasty and flavourful.

Plate up the cous cous first and add the tagine over the top, as I said earlier I sprinkled rocket on the top with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar but this is totally your choice!

Enjoy!

Two Days Two Snacks

I have been out delivering and collecting dresses a lot recently, when I am driving I feel a bit sorry for myself so I like to indulge in a snack or two.

Here are two examples.

Day One.
A savoury snack from spain bought in The Quarter Deli on Hope Street. These are delicious but way too salty when you are on the motorway and without water, they are also really moorish so you even though you are overwhelmed by the salty-ness you manage to devour the whole packet.

Day Two.
A sugary snack. I know these are not vegetarian and strictly, they don't deserve a place on the blog but I have a terribly sweet tooth and can easily eat a whole bag of Haribo sweets.
This is a snack for a day when I feel a bit tired, a quick sugar boost from the petrol station when filling up and I am good to go!

Baking shopping list.

Don't ask how but I spent £50 on this lot. The lady at the till said it would be have been cheaper buying ready made cakes, but that didn't deter me.

The list includes:
4 different types of flour; rye, wholeweat, strong white flour and special self raising flour
Icing - ready made
Sugar
Vanilla essence
Food colouring
Yeast
Eggs

Etc...

Just one more shot!

You can see how moist this raspberry bakewell is three days after making it. I highly recommend this - I was tempted to add whipping cream to it - almost like a scone. But people scorned the idea and I sulked back the kitchen,

Recipe to follow.

Enjoy!

Now this is a corker!

I know it doesn't look like much but this was four victoria sponges with red velvet cupcakes (which were not so red) with fresh cherries, buttercream icing in between layers and white icing on the top.

I had to take a photograph on a slice of the cake rather than the whole cake, it was just crazy and the picture would not have fitted in with all of the other pictures on this blog. The cake was crazy and inventive but not the most pretty of cakes as the buttercream was dribbling over the sides and some of the sponge layers were uneven

Anyway this was delicious and stayed moist for days, well until my friends cam round last night and devoured the lot!

Mini bread buns.

Now this is more like it!!

This is my kind of bread, using strong white flour the dough makes a heavy bread with plenty of substance. It tastes great on the day but is also enjoyable the next day.
I sliced these up and mad mini crisp butties which I enjoyed with a large sailor jerry and diet coke, because thats just how I roll.. haha!

Multi seed bread.

This was an interesting bread. As I said before I am not a baker and I don't have as much experience in this particular style of cooking. This bread was interesting because it grew in size and then went slightly smaller, then stopped.
I bought five different types of seeds; poppy seeds, carraway seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and just to make sure some mixed seeds. When they said multi seed bread they said MULTI seed.
I think if I was to make this again I wouldn't use as much of the carraway seeds, they are extremely overpowering and unique in taste. My mum enjoyed the taste, but I did not, it was peppery and dry - I needed to spread a lot of butter on this bread to make it to my taste buds.

I will also post the recipe later on if anybody wants to try this unusual bread.

Enjoy!

Fresh raspberry bakewell.

On Wednesday I needed a day away from "The Fashion" so I decided to spend a day baking, I am sure you can see from the blog that I cook a lot of savoury foods so I wanted to challenge myself and bake instead. I pulled a load of recipes from different magazines and this was one of them.
With my new loaf tin in hand a punnet of raspberries waiting to be used I got baking.
This is a pretty straightforward pudding and I will post the recipe later on. But now lets just enjoy the picture!

Enjoy!

The humble mushrooms on toast.

As I was baking I fancied a little snack so I made myself crumbly lancashire cheese on toast with sliced chesnut mushrooms and lots of black pepper. The bread is the key to making this a first class snack so I used a wholegrain seedy bread, something with a bit of weight to it!

Enjoy!!

Photographs to make your mouth water....

This is my mums favourite food that I cook, its greek tapas and she loves to eat lots of different types of dishes in one meal.

Enjoy!!!

My favourite meal!

This was from my favourite south Indian restaurant, I have talked about it before and attempted to make this dish, but it is never as good.
Beetcheera Pachadi!

Quick Mexican Fajitas.

For a quick Mexican feast Fajitas are the best, you can wrap and roll whatever you want.
I made a simple tomato and pepper sauce with quorn mince and plenty of smoked paprika, garlic and chillies. Then a fresh salsa of chopped peppers, baby cherry tomatoes,olive oil, lime juice and some fresh mint. Roll all of this with some strong mature cheddar and if you want to really satisfy that hunger, roll in some potato wedges, fresh from the oven. Try squeezing that into your mouth.

Note. For the potato wedges, I sliced some pink potatoes for this and placed them into a deep oven proof dish with plenty of olive oil, dried chillies and rock salt for about 45 mins.

Enjoy!

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The Liverpool Food and Drink Festival

So you know its going to be one of those days when lots of blog posts appear in one go!
I have been manic with the other side of my life, the fashion side of things.
So here goes,

Loved the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival, could not fault it.. But wouldn't it be lovely to have a vegetarian street food stall there next year?? Maybe...

The Quarter Deli stall.

A beautiful stall from a tomato farmer, Ill dig out the business card with his name on it, sorry Mr Tomato farmer.

Beautiful brushcetta from Jamie Oliver's Iatlian stand.

The Liverpool Cheese Company