Back to basics

For various reasons over the last couple of months my trusty breadmaker has been decidedly unloved and the basic ingredients that we always keep in haven't been used as much as normal. Instead I've been buying in pitta bread and tortilla/wrap style breads which means not only spending money that I don't really need to spend but also bringing extra non-recyclable, non-reusable plastic wrappings in to the house that just end up in the bin. Lots of reasons for this, some days I'm just not very hungry or the taste buds are playing tricks but I know I need to eat so a single pitta straight out of the freezer and in the toaster plus some soup is perfect, other days my mouth is a bit sore or swallowing a bit difficult and that lovely loaf of crusty bread becomes a bit of a minefield. Just part and parcel of the cancer treatment and no doubt the same thing for lots of people living with other long term conditions too.

So time for an experiment - can I make a batch of my own flatbreads using what I have in the house without tiring myself out and still have the convenience of being able to just have a single piece if that's all my appetite demands...

well-thumbed but hopefully legible!

My usual meander around blog-land came up with various make your own tortilla type recipes and I soon twigged that our regular weekend pizza dough recipe was very similar - low yeast, oil based and easily adapted to whatever flavourings you have to hand. Time for a play.



So this morning into the bread machine went:
about 100g of mixed grain bread flour (tail end of the bag)
about 200g of white bread flour
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1.5 tablespoon of onion powder
about 1 tablespoon of dried mixed herbs (last of the jar)
1 teaspoon of salt
170ml of water


And out came 550g dough ball which then got divided into eight.








I popped a couple of raw dough balls in individual cases to see how well they freeze and cook later. These are just reusable silicon muffin cases - once frozen I'll take them out and leave them in the tub.

Next I rolled out a couple of the pieces as large tortilla-style breads and popped them in a hot dry pan to cook. 

I divided a couple of the other pieces into 2 to make small pitta type breads - a hot fry pan with a little water - may use a little oil next time as pan started to smell a bit as it got very hot.

So now we have a few cooked for my tea and J's supper then a few smaller ones that are in the freezer to see how they re-heat over the week.



So far the results look promising, just need to see what they are like out of the freezer and then that's another step back from pre-packed foods.

And the wet weekend continued...

Judging by the blogs I've peeked at this morning a lot of us have let the weather inspire us to play in the kitchen this week! The weekend pretty much followed Friday's pattern as it was pretty darn wet underfoot and grey throughout Saturday. This meant I ended up doing some more "let's use stuff up" cooking - this time with some of the veg in the freezer - Cauliflower & Pine-nut Macaroni Bake - before putting my feet up with my book and some music and a couple of episodes of Made in Bolton on the I-player whilst making some more cracker innards and J popped into town to run some errands. 

Sunday also ended up being a kitchen morning as I played with making some spicy apple muffins using the food processor. They worked out well so that's one more thing I can manage on good days. Lunch was easy as we had leftovers from Saturday's bake with some veggie sausages and of course, the muffins had to be taste tested too! The rest of Sunday has passed quietly watching TV and reading again. The sun did eventually break through mid-afternoon but by that time I was back in low power mode so no more chores for me.

So, for today's post another recipe and this one is even a vegan one - although you can grate a bit of cheese on top if you really want!

Cauliflower and pine-nut macaroni bake

Makes between 4 and 6 portions in a 2 pint casserole



Put
About 250-300g cauliflower
4-6 mushrooms chopped
1 cup of wholemeal macaroni or other small pasta - cooked until just tender.
Approx. 500ml tomato sauce - made with passata or tin tomatoes, 1 medium onion, 2 dessertspoons mixed herbs, 1 dessertspoon sage and ground garlic and pepper to taste
100g bag of pine nuts - toasted dry in a fry pan.

Into a 2 pint casserole dish 
Stir all the veg, cooked pasta and pine-nuts together in the dish.
Pour the tomato sauce over the top making sure it gets all around all the veg
and pasta

Bake Gas 5 for about 30-40 minutes until piping hot and bubbling well.

Enjoy!

Wet Friday in the kitchen

My first Friday without chemo for a month has arrived with a thoroughly autumnal start. It's steely grey and tipping down out there so no outside pottering for us today. Instead, a bit of kitchen time. The weather demands something warm, filling and hopefully tasty for lunch so bring on our Runner bean chilli.

Dried runner beans

Runner beans grow to be big, chunky and prettily speckled purple beans that, when left to form in their pods and dried, make a great base for burgers, bakes and other other tasty dishes as they take on herby and spicy flavours well.

Veggies in

This recipe not only uses our homegrown beans it is also great way of using up any veggies lurking in the fridge or drawer that might be a bit past their best so as usual play with whatever combination you have to hand if you haven't got something on my list. 

If you don't have dried beans any 400g tin of beans will be fine.

How and what - Makes at least 6 portions.

Soak 200g dried runner beans overnight and then cook them for about an hour until tender. Throw away the cooking water for these as you would for kidney beans.

Chop and lightly fry a medium onion plus c.150g mushrooms and a large courgette. Added crushed garlic or garlic powder to taste.

Add a washed and chopped medium carrot or two and a small splash of water if it looks in danger of sticking. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes

Add about 500ml of passata or a 400g can of tomatoes. Then stir in a tablespoon of vegetarian or vegan pesto plus about 2 tablespoons mixed herbs, chilli powder, pepper and salt to taste. Bring to bubble, stirring to mix all the flavours and then add the cooked beans. Cover and simmer for about 40 -45 minutes until everything tender and the flavours have had a chance to mingle.

If you have time it's worth leaving the cooked dish to stand for awhile to let the flavours develop and then bring back to bubbling before serving with wraps, tortillas or rice.

Bubbling away nicely

I quite like a bit of grated strong cheddar on my tortilla too but this is usually flavourful enough not to need it if you prefer to keep it Vegan. 

This is one of those things that works well made in a big batch and portioned out for freezing and using another day. This pot gave us lunch for two today and at least four more portions for the freezer. As with most chilli related things if you can make it the day before you want to eat it then the flavour will be even better. 

I've also made a variation in the slow cooker but you will have to play around a bit with quantities and liquid levels to suit your crockpot.