Letter to a vegetarian

Dear Fiona

I was very glad to read your article in Saturday’s Mirror exposing the cruelty involved in the meat industry. 

However, it has to be said, all the cruelties you describe in your article apply equally - if not more so - to the dairy industry. Every cow or calf in that industry finishes up in a slaughterhouse, enduring the same appalling conditions. Indeed, I would argue that dairy cows suffer much more than animals raised for beef, since they endure forced pregnancies, separation from calf at birth, and constant over-milk production for the few - 4 or 5 - years they are allowed to live. Then they are killed - 15 or so years before their natural life span. Their male offspring are either dispatched immediately or they are kept a few short months for veal. The dairy industry underpins the beef industry!

So, if I am to believe your horror and disgust at the cruelty you describe so graphically, logically you should go a step further and advocate a vegan lifestyle.

Anything else, Fiona, I’m afraid, is hypocrisy!

BTW, I didn’t join the dots immediately, it took me 2 years to transition from vegetarian to vegan - but it’s the only moral choice.

(This is to leave aside the benefits of becoming vegan, both to your own health and the health of the planet.)

Yours sincerely, Paul

5:2 DIET - CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A MUG (Vegan) - UPDATE!

This is a simple, quick, cheap, low(ish) calorie cake that can be ready  to eat in as little as 5 minutes (well, 6 minutes and 56 seconds). Mix in one mug - or jug - then pour into a prepared mug to bake. Easy to make with your youngster.

[[Here's the full, 8"/20cm version of the cake - which will set you back all of 70p!]]

Sunday 29th January 2017
Came across this chocolate cake recipe which doesn't use any oil, using apple sauce instead. I thought I'd use this method in this recipe:

4 dessertspoons self raising flour (approx. 40g)
4* dessertspoons sugar (approx. 50g)
1 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder (5g)
3 heaped teaspoons apple sauce (30g)

6 dessertspoons water (60g)

And it worked a treat! So, no more oil for me. This, of course, reduces the cal count - by about 150cals. So the cake comes in at around 375 cals.

*I thought it was a little sweet, so next time I'll use 3 dsps of sugar.

Thursday 9th May 2013

I've been tinkering with this recipe a little, to try and make it a little more user-friendly! For instance, I now cook it in a cereal dish lined with baking parchment - it was just too tricky trying to get it out of the mug in one piece. Mind you, if there's no-one else sharing this, then eating it straight out of the mug is the way to go!

I've also started mixing it in a (high-sided) cereal bowl with a rounded bottom - it makes it much easier to ensure you don't leave any caked dry mix in the bottom corners, as can happen when mixing it in a mug.

The third change I've made is to mix the sugar and cocoa powder first, before adding the flour. The sharp edges of the granulated sugar break up the clots of cocoa powder, so a sieve becomes unnecessary.

My record to date is 6 minutes 56 seconds from thinking about cake to hearing the microwave's ping as it finishes the two minute cooking time.

I just laid the baking parchment over the top of the bowl - the weight of the mixture sank the paper into the bowl

And here it is turned out onto a plate.

The time the cake weighed 190g (I used a larger dessertspoon), so, although the calorie count further down doesn't really apply, I guess 50g of this would still come in at around 175 calories.

If you're making the cereal bowl version of this, cut the baking parchment halfway across - then one bit folds under the other as the cake mix is poured in. 

Sunday 17th February 2013 (My first attempt at this)

Place a small disc of baking parchment in the bottom of a mug, then spray the inside of the mug with One-cal Fry-lite, or similar. Assemble the ingredients in a separate mug or a jug.

Not a great pic, I'll be the first to admit. But the cake was quick and tasty.

Ingredients:
4 dessertspoons self raising flour (approx. 40g)
4 dessertspoons sugar (approx. 50g)
1 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder (5g)
4 dessertspoons vegetable oil (approx. 28g)
6 dessertspoons water (60g)

Method:
Mix the dry ingredients together (I'll admit to sieving the cocoa, since it clumps easily, but the flour should be fine).

Add the oil and water and mix together first with a spoon, then a fork. Make sure you scrape up all the dry ingredients.

Pour the mixture into your prepared mug and microwave for 2 to 2 and a half minutes on full power (800W in my case). Check with a skewer to see if it is done.

Calorie count:
This works out at 525 calories - for approximately 150g of cake = 175 calories for each portion of 50g.

Note:
Children should be able to make this from start to finish - since the mug handle should remain cool, the child can place the mug in and out of the microwave quite safely.

Breadmaking Workshop in Wellington 23rd April 2016

13/4/16

Breadmaking Made Easy Workshop, 10.00am - 4.30pm 

23rd April 2016 Community Centre, Corams Lane, Wellington TA21 8LL

Dear Student,

This letter sets out what I intend will happen on the day and includes a list of ingredients and utensils which you will need to bring. If you are new to breadmaking, let me reassure you that it is much easier than you have been led to believe.

The session will begin in a relaxed fashion – the first thing you need to do is to find somewhere to park all the stuff that I ask you to bring, get yourself a drink and somewhere to sit down. Then there is a little paperwork we need to complete – I’ll guide you through that, if you can bring a pen that would be handy.

Before we start breadmaking I’d like to spend some time finding out what you expect to get out of the day’s session so that I can hopefully meet all your requirements. My aim is to turn you into a competent home baker (if you’re not already!) able to bake any bread you fancy.

The breads you will be making: Choice of 2 types of soda bread; fancy dinner rolls; cheese bread wraps (lunch); fruit dough to make hot cross buns and Chelsea buns; focaccia; and pizza.

The kettle is always on for a mug of tea or coffee (cost 20p). For lunch we’ll have a couple of the cheesey wraps.

I want to reassure all those students new to breadmaking that my first aim for this workshop is for everyone to enjoy their learning – I always delight in these sessions, and it’s my job to see that everyone else does. Breadmaking is an easy, everyday craft – as you’ll come to realise!

If you have a particular variety of bread you'd like to make instead of one of the breads on offer, I'd be very happy for you to do that. Get in touch if this idea appeals to you and we will see how we could fit it in to the programme. Or if you have any questions, doubts, suggestions at all, please don’t hesitate to ring or email me.

I have a blog - part breadmaking, part vegan cookery - in which I detail all my breadmaking activities. Here’s the post I’ve started about the workshop:

http://nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/breadmaking-workshop-in-wellington-23rd.html

Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to the word ‘Companion’. The ‘com’ part means together – as in community – and the ‘pan’ part of the word means bread. So the word ‘Companion’ can be taken to mean, ‘Someone who makes bread with his or her friends’. Which is exactly what we shall be doing!

I look forward to meeting you and welcoming you on the course.

Regards, Paul 

Ingredients:

Flour. Don't forget to specify strong flour, as this is sold especially for breadmaking. Own-brand flours are fine.

Yeast. The most convenient for our purposes is fresh baker’s yeast – if you can’t get hold of any, I’ll have enough for everyone.

Olive oil. This is much cheaper these days, and it does improve the bread. Once again, buy the cheapest you can - £2.19 (I think!) for 750ml at Lidl!

Shopping list:

2 bags strong flour – one white and one wholemeal, or 2 white

Baking powder

250ml olive oil

100g sugar

Salt

50g fresh yeast if you can get some – or I'll have some for 10p

Sesame/poppy seeds*

200g sultanas or any dried fruit 

Mixed spice/cinnamon/nutmeg

150g grated Cheddar

Tomato sauce of your choice for the pizza

Dried oregano if you have it*

Rosemary – fresh or dried*

Black pepper*

Some tomatoes/mushrooms/onions/peppers for the wraps and pizza

*Optional

You will also need to bring:

An apron

A couple of tea towels, both to cover your dough whilst it's proving and to wrap any warm bread in to take home.

Baking parchment or paper (this is unlike greaseproof paper as it contains silicon)

Something to carry away the finished products (a large basket or cardboard box lined with tea towels would be ideal)

Sharp knife

Mug for hot drink

STUFFED MUSHROOM PARCELS (mushrooms en croute)

Sunday 8th January 2017.
Made this today for my roast dinner, each mushroom stuffed with Pateole mushroom spread and Meridian pesto, with cayenne pepper:

Decided to go with three, since they weren't all that big

With the two ends brought over the middle

One side brought up - with the surplus dough removed

Similar wth the other side

Dough squished and pressed into shape around the mushrooms and turned over - the weight keeps it together, and it looks a lot neater. The scraps have been rolled into savoury breadsticks (grissini)

The finished article, ready to serve (caught the top of the dough in our small top oven)
I served up half, initially, the came back for another quarter. It was gorgeous!

Sunday 15th April 2012.

Made this again today. (Full recipe further down the post)

The dough:

1 mug flour

1 tsp bouillon powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp dried oregano

3 large chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1/3rd mug yeast liquid containing 10g fresh yeast

Large glug of oil from the SDTs

Plus:

2 large Portobello mushrooms and 2 large button mushrooms

Stuffed with mushroom pate and vegan pesto

The dough was mixed and kneaded until smooth and divided into three pieces. These were rolled out and the mushrooms were placed in the middle:

The stalk was sliced and placed over the stuffing

The dough was gathered together over the mushroom, and the excess snipped off

The two button mushroom were stuffed, pressed together with the split stalks between them, then wrapped in the bread dough.

 They were left to prove for around an hour then baked - 20 minutes at 220C.

 The stuffing - just oozing out!

Tonight I had one with roast potatoes, etc, and a spicy tomato sauce instead of gravy.

The mushroom pate and pesto make a wonderful sauce which soaks into the bread base, so the effect is like an enclosed trencher - with trencher and topping cooked together. Simply gorgeous.

26th April 2011.

Stuffed field mushroom en croute - using a bread dough 

(Makes around 3)

Ingredients:                                                                

200g (1 mug) strong white flour                                        

1/4 tsp salt                                                                  

125ml (1/3 mug) lukewarm water                                                               

1 rounded dessertspoon fresh yeast

Splash of olive oil (optional)

Filling:

3 large field mushrooms

Mushroom pate
Vegan pesto

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl, pour in the yeast liquid, then add the olive oil if using.

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife, cutting through the dough. When it gets too stiff for the knife, use your hand to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure it stays soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water to keep it soft! When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by stretching the dough out, folding it over, stretching it out and so on and so forth. Do this until it is smooth – or until you get fed up!

4. Leave to prove for about an hour on your worktop, covered with a dry tea towel. Or place in an oiled plastic bag until you are ready for step 5.

5. When you are ready, divide the dough into 3 pieces. Form each piece into a ball and roll out into circles big enough to form a parcel with the mushrooms.

6. Prepare the stuffed mushrooms by removing the stalk, then spread the pate over the mushroom and cover with the pesto. Divide the mushroom stalk into two and place it in the middle of the circle.

7. Place the mushroom, filling down, over the mushroom stalk and bring up the edges of dough in 3 or 4 places to meet over the top of the mushroom. Squeeze the edges of dough together so they stick to one another and place smooth side up on a baking sheet. Repeat with the other mushrooms.

8. Leave to prove until the dough is risen and puffy then bake at 220C, 425F or gas 7 for about fifteen minutes. There should be some colour under the parcels to show that they are cooked right through.

SODA BREADS - VEGGIE AND VEGAN

Update - 13th Feb 2012.
Made 2 x 200g soda breads today (one, an Italian focaccia-type loaf), including a good glug of olive oil - they were gorgeous  with a lovely soft crust:

(Also: Fruit soda bread and Curried soda bread)

(This is a very adaptable bread – you can put anything in it that takes your fancy!)

Ingredients:

1 mug or 200g self raising flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/3^rd mug or 125ml water

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 220C, 425F, gas mark 7 and prepare your baking tray.

2. Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. When the oven is hot, add the water and begin mixing with a table knife or similar.

3. Mix together into a soft dough, stirring and cutting through the dough as it forms, adding more flour or water as needed. Turn it out onto a floured worktop, firmly mould it into a round flat loaf, about 3cm thick and place it on your prepared baking sheet. (With practice you can get the mixing and shaping done in less than two minutes.) To allow the heat of the oven to reach the centre of the dough more easily, cut a deep cross into the top of the loaf with the knife.

4. Bake in the centre of the oven for around 20 minutes, but check after 15.

5. The loaf is ready when it has a good colour underneath and a skewer comes out clean – or it ‘breaks’ cleanly. You may need to put it back in, upside down, for a few more minutes. Place to cool on a wire rack and – for a softer crust – wrap the bread in a tea cloth.

Fruit soda bread:

At step two, instead of the salt, add 1 dessertspoon of sugar, half a mug (100g) of dried fruit and a teaspoon of mixed spice.

Curried soda bread:

At step two, along with the salt, add a teaspoon of curry powder.

Italian soda bread (see pics, above)
At step two, after the water is added, pour in a good glug of olive oil (2-3 tablespoons?) then proceed as per the recipe;
Then, if you wish to make it into a focaccia, at step four, after the dough is mixed, give the dough 3 or 4 flatten and folding actions, then roll out into a circle about 1.5-2cm thick. Press holes in it with your fingers, then fill the holes with olive oil. Make sure you use a tray with a lip to contain any oil that spills over.
Bake as above - the olive oil disappears just as the loaf is baked! I always get a kick out of that!

Notes:

These amounts make a small loaf – for a larger loaf, just double up the ingredients and bake for 25-30 minutes.

If you only have plain flour, you’ll need to add baking powder  - 1 teaspoon for each 100g of flour, or 2 teaspoons for a mug full.
You can also make these breads with wholemeal or spelt flour.

In a frying pan:

Roll or squash the loaf into a flat round and bake it in a dry frying pan with lid (use a baking sheet if you don’t have a lid) for about 6-7 minutes on each side on medium heat.

Here's how I made this frying pan bread in only 13 minutes!

And, my new record, bread made in a sandwich toaster in only 8 minutes!

SEITAN CUTLETS AND CHUNKS

Thursday 9th June 2016

Here's my latest seitan - made with leftover veg and potato stew + vital wheat gluten and flavourings:

Two ways to cook this - one half baked in the oven, the other half dry fried

All I do nowadays is to weigh off the leftover stew - today around 350g, then estimate how much wheat gluten I'll need - and I went for 150g.

WHY EATING NOTHING BUT PLANTS IS NOT ONLY GOOD FOR US - IT'S ESSENTIAL FOR GOOD HEALTH

7th December 2016
In an attempt to avoid BSE/CJD (Mad Cow's Disease), I became a vegetarian 15 years ago. I first of all gave up beef, then, after Christmas 2001, all other sources of meat. It was just easier that way.

It then took me around 2 years to transition to a completely plant-based (vegan) diet - impelled by increasing concerns about animal welfare. About 2-3 months after giving up all sources of dairy, I found that my nasal drip - a constant irritant - had completely dried up. 

My osteoarthritis, from which I'd suffered for the previous few years, stabilised - it was no longer getting worse each year, as it had been. Today it is no longer a concern - I no longer have osteoarthritis.

Now, of course, Climate Change has reared its ugly head and forswearing meat and meat products is even more of an imperative.

So, 3 reasons to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet: 
Health; 
Animal Welfare; and, 
Global Warming.

Any one of these three reasons, IMO, should be sufficient on its own to persuade people to eat nothing but plants.

The evidence for the health effects of eating a plant-based diet is overwhelming. The case is made most effectively in the film, Forks Over Knives. (95 minutes) 

Here is a review.

The film Forks Over Knives, Extended Interviews is also available. In it the scientists who contributed to the film talk about their work.

Review here.

CREOLE SODA BREAD - CHOCOLATE AND BEETROOT AND VEGAN!

23rd January 2013.
Made this in the microwave, but, because other microwaved cakes of mine have over-flowed the silicon cake form I use, I reduced the amount by 20%:

Microwave version:

160g self raising flour (for a gluten free version, just substitute GF s/raising flour)

120g granulated sugar

20g cocoa powder

80g grated, cooked beetroot

100g water

60g apple juice 

40g vegetable oil

Using an 800W microwave, 7 minutes minutes on full power. Leave in the cake form for ten minutes to finish cooking.

[Pics to come]

4/5/12
Made this again, with oil this time and some apple juice instead of water. I also reduced the sugar by a quarter. I think this makes a nicer loaf.

Revised recipe:
200g self raising flour
150g granulated sugar
2 dessertspoons cocoa powder
100g grated, cooked beetroot
100g water
100g apple juice
50g vegetable oil

At work this morning, I was collared by the wife of one of my friends on the walk, who told me he hadn't stopped talking about the chocolate and beetroot loaf - and could she have the recipe, please!


2/5/12

Certainly looks the part

Risen quite well

I've been meaning to try this ever since I bought some of this bread at the 'Taste of Christmas' Show at the Excel Centre before Christmas last year. The bread was amazing. We were told it was vegan, and made with fruit juice - and whatever fruits they were making it with. There was an astonishing variety of cakes, all made to a basic formula.

Finally managed to track down the company - Global Fusion, of Stoke Newington, London, N16.

Since making vegan chocolate cake, which uses self raising flour, I've been wondering about the dividing line between that sort of cake and a soda bread. My thought was that the Creole breads come somewhere in the middle.

I'd also wanted to make a soda bread version of the chocolate and beetroot loaf I've made quite a few times.

So this is my attempt - and it's in the oven right this very minute. Another 25 minutes will tell me if I'm on the right track or not.

Ingredients:

200g self raising flour

200g sugar

25g cocoa powder

100g cooked beetroot, grated

200g water

Method:

Measure the dry ingredients (sifting the cocoa powder) into a mixing bowl, add the grated beetroot then the water. Stir with a large spoon, then whisk for a few seconds then pour into a prepared loaftin.

Only when I was pouring it in the loaftin did I realise - too late - that I'd forgot to include any oil.

So, we'll see shortly, just what sort of a cock-up I've made!

60 minutes later. The bread's out of the oven, sliced and tasted. It tastes fine, but we'll see what my fellow walkers think of it tomorrow.

Conclusions:

Well, it's different! It holds together well, but it's a little rubbery; it's slightly claggy in mouth feel; it's sweet - perhaps too sweet; but when I'd finished a taste, my mouth wanted to taste it again - so that's a positive.

I'll see what my mates think.

Next time I'll make one just as it was described to me by the stall holder - full of fruit juice. So I'll ditch the beetroot and make it just with apple juice - perhaps using 150g of sugar instead of 200g. Oh, and I'll definitely include some oil - perhaps 50g.

Wednesday 2nd May.
Beautiful day for a walk on the Quantocks with some good friends, and about an hour into the walk I brought out the bread - which went down very well! "Moist," "Delicious""Very nice!"

So even without any oil at all, it's still an excellent loaf!

QUICK SEITAN RECIPE

300g baked seitan - enough for two Sunday roasts

I needed some seitan for the coming week, so I thought I'd cook some up whilst the oven was on for a Sunday roast. (More seitan info.)

I used leftover spicy tomato sauce (from pizza-making yesterday), as a base.

Recipe:
200g vital wheat gluten
4 dessertspoons nutritional yeast (nooch)
2 teaspoons bouillon powder
2 dessertspoons curry powder (I like a lot of heat - add to taste)

Plus:
200g homemade tomato sauce - made with a tin of tomatoes, blitzed, with mushroom sauce, soy sauce, vegan pesto (Marigold), Lingham's chilli sauce, mixed herbs.

Method:
Mix the dry ingredients, then add 150g of this to the tomato sauce. Stirring with a table knife, I found this was too wet, so I added another 25g of powder. It was still too wet, so another 25g of powder were added - then I kneaded this into a dough.

300g of this were pressed into a small, oiled, roasting dish and baked, with a lid, for 30 minutes - whilst the oven was on for the roast potatoes, etc.

Cut into two pieces, one half for tonight's dinner, and the other in the freezer.

For Sunday dinner I have one of these halves, sliced, with some of the tomato sauce instead of gravy. The half in the freezer could be next Sunday's dinner or, chopped into chunks, become part of a chilli non carne.

The other 150g I rolled out into a cutlet Notes:
This made 450g of seitan, the other 150g, pressed out into a circle about 10cm across and dry-fried for about 7-8 minutes each side, will make a seitan cutlet, which I will have for dinner tomorrow along with some curried potato wedges.

You get a more even thickness if you use a rolling pin - don't believe those other websites which tell you that this makes it tough - not true. 

I had about 40g of the flavoured vital wheat gluten left. I've found it's always better to make more than you need, it saves having to flavour another 25g, then perhaps another 25g. I put the leftover in an old spice tub which I keep in the bag of gluten flour, so it's there next time I want to make seitan.

GIVING UP SUGAR - HARDER THAN GIVING UP ALCOHOL

Thursday 24th November 2016

Still in the zone - every meal I have without something sweet afterwards makes it easier. I was in Lidl today, and, although I bought a box of Turkish Delight for Christmas, I left the other stuff well alone. This is a first for me! :)

Saturday 19th November 2016
Well, it's only been one week, now - and I'm astonished! 

In that time I've had 4 squares of dark chocolate and several pieces of a homemade fruit soda bread - eaten as part of dinner.

My mouth no longer tells me it wants something sweet after a meal - it just doesn't! My desire for sweet stuff is getting easier every day.

This afternoon I made this 'cake in a mug' for my grandson - and I wasn't tempted in the slightest. 

So does it take just 7 days to ween oneself off sugar? I'm only a study of one, of course, but it does look very hopeful.

Thinking about it, what I was doing previously was a bit like a cigarette smoker trying to give up by smoking less - it just doesn't work. Every time you have another cigarette, you're reinforcing the nicotine addiction. Every time you have a biscuit/sweet/etc, you're reinforcing the sugar addiction.

Thoughts?

Saturday 12th November 2016
As regular readers may remember, for the past several months, I've been trying to give up - or severely cut down on - alcohol, sugar and snacking in the evening, using the 2:5 method.

I'm now down to 1 pint of stout and a small glass on wine on one day a week, and I only have a late night snack on Saturdays. But sugar has been a far harder nut to crack. I have cut out all snacking between meals, and only eating any treats after lunch or dinner. Once I start, however, despite all the tips I've learned over the past 4+ years, I'm not always able to stop.

The lead up to Xmas I find particularly difficult; Lidl have now introduced their Xmas fare, which includes several vegan treats including chocolate covered marzipan, chocolate liqueurs, marzipan fruits and Turkish delight. In previous years I've gone to town on these, reasoning that, since they're not available year-round, I should fill my boots, as it were. This year I've been more circumspect, but I still have all these goodies to hand, albeit in smaller quantities.

However, this still didn't square with my stated aim of giving up sugar.

Finally, last Saturday, I thought, right, time to take drastic(ish) action. I bundled up all my goodies in a plastic bag and threw them on top of a tall kitchen cupboard*. All I've had since then has been 2 squares of dark chocolate (I find it easy to stop after one square) - one on Sunday and one yesterday. Since I'm fasting, no chocolate for me today.

Although it's only been three days, I really feel that a corner has been turned.