Party Food

Tis the season to party so we have put our heads together and knocked up a whole range of simple  party food ideas. 

Vegan Beetroot, carrot and smoked tofu sausage rolls 
(makes 15 - 18 small rolls) 

For the sausage rolls

1 Batch vegan rough puff (650g block)

Filling:

225g smoked tofu

2 small beetroot or 1 big

2 small carrots or 1 big

100g toasted seeds (plus extra for top)

3 Tbsp tamari

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp chopped oregano (you can use 1tsp dried if you don't have fresh)

wheat free flour ( approx 3-5 tbsp)

Soy cream for glaze



1) Finely grate the vegetable into a large bowl. 
2) Squish the tofu with your hand into the bowl. Add all the other ingredients except the flour. Squish again till all of it comes together. Add the flour gradually until the mix stops feeling wet and starts to feel a little sticky and will hold together. 
3) Roll out the pastry into a big rectangle and then cut this in half to form two long thin rectangles.
4) Brush one side of each with soy cream and then pack the mix onto it in a long sausage shape. Fold over the side and roll them over so the join is facing down. Slice into pieces (6cm or so- up to you really)
5) Bake in an oven pre-heated to 170c for 25-30 minutes. 

Mini topped Flat breads (makes 18-22)
This recipe is based on the lahmacun recipe so refer to that for details on the dough part of the
recipe. 

For the dough:

2 1/2 tsp fast acting yeast (I packet)

1/2 tsp sugar

250ml water

500g bread flour

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil

For the topping:

2 buffalo mozzerella (chopped)

300g sun-blushed tomatoes (chopped)

salt pepper

bunch fresh basil 

tsp garlic

80g toasted pinenuts
 
or 

lebna (see recipe)

1 tsp sumac

3 tbsp chopped parsley

80g chopped walnuts 

1) When your dough is ready separate it into walnut sized ball. Roll them in you palm, then roll out with a rolling pin till quite thin circles. About 5mm. 
2) Transfer onto a floured baking tray.
3) Top with whatever topping you like. Drizzle a little oil on top then transfer into a really hot oven (250c). These should only take 10-15 minutes. 

Falafels
makes approx 20

300g dry chickpeas soaked in water for at least 24 hours
1/2 onion
1 small potato
3 cloves garlic
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2tbsp flour
1tsp salt
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 bunch corriander

1small tsp baking powder

Once you have soaked the chickpeas for at least 24 hours, drain and blend in a food processor along with all the ingredients except for the baking powder.  remove from food processor and in a mixing bowl add the baking powder and mix well.
Roll into bite sized shapes and deep fry them in hot oil for about 3-4 min



Courgette & Piquillo pepper Rolls marinated in truffle oil
makes approx 24 rolls


3 courgettes
small wedge of twineham grange vegetarian hard cheese (300g)
3-4 piquillo peppers sliced into thin strips
malden sea salt
pepper
truffle oil
oilve oil

using a french style vegetable peeler or mandolin slicer peel courgette into long ribbons until you reach the seed of the courgette.  do not peel any further that this point as the seeded part of the courgette is not suitable for rolling.










lay the courgette ribbons flat onto a tray side by side, lay a strip of piquillo pepper in the middle of each ribbon.
lightly season with salt, pepper and truffle oil (its a good idea to taste your truffle oil before using to gauge how potent it is as some truffle oild can pack quite a punch)
using a fine grater, grate some cheese generously over the ribbons and marinate lightly with olive oil to finish.

Leave to marinate for 4-5 hours, roll and arrange onto your party platter.



Tomato basil and goats cheese frittata

















1 tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 small red onion
1/3 bunch fresh basil
salt & pepper
olive oil

5 eggs (whisk eggs and cream together)
100ml cream

you can either use a non stick fry pan or cast iron pan, if using cast iron pan pre-heat oven to 180c

goats cheese to garnish

de seed tomato and dice, finely dice your onion and thinly slice the garlic cloves.
in a small cast iron skillet or non stick fry pan drizzle a generous amount of olive oil if using cast iron skillet or just a little with a non stick pan.

lightly fry garlic, add onion, tomato and eggs, and fry on med heat, with a spatula mix eggs a couple of times,  as the frittata is cooking gently run spatula down the side of the pan so the sides don't stick.

when almost cooked if using cast iron pan place in oven for a further 15 min to finish cooking.
If using a nonstick pan, cover pan with a plate and flip the frittata over, you should now have the uncooked side facing down onto the plate, slide this into the fry pan and cook for a further 5-8 min.

to remove frittata from pan gently run the spatula down the side of the pan to help ease the edges free,  cover pan with a plate and flip the frittata over.

wait until cooled and garnish with some slices of goats cheese. .

Halloween recipe #1: Pumpkin, Feta and piquillo pepper pie

 

Here's our first recipe using our lovely organic pumpkins. This pie is on the menu at Mildreds but we re-sized it for making at home to make a 24 cm/ 9 inch pie to serve 4-5 for a main or 6-8 for a starter. If you cant get these spanish piquillo peppers then use some roasted and skinned red peppers.

(Recipe by Daniel Acevedo)

For the Filling:

1kg Pumpkin

1 red chilli

4 garlic cloves

4 sticks rosemary

200g feta

6 piquillo peppers

Splash olive oil

Few pinches of Maldon sea salt

For the Pastry:

200g butter (cubed and cold)

400g plain Flour

1 egg yolk

Ice cold water 

1 Tbsp (more or less) fresh herbs (oregano, sage or thyme)

First make your pastry. We always use the mixer for this as the more you touch pastry the more rubbery it gets but you can crumb it by hand by rubbing the flour and butter together with your fingertips. 
1) First crumb together your flour and butter (make sure your butter is fridge cold, it makes this easier)
2) Add the herbs, egg yolk and enough ice cold water to bring the crumbs together but not so much that it gets sticky. 
3) Leave it to rest in the fridge.

Then start your filling.
1) Peel and de-seed and cut pumpkin into even bite sized chunks. 

2) Finely dice chilli and finely slice garlic cloves, hand strip rosemary and roughly cut.  Add all the above to a baking tray, lightly splash with olive oil, season with Maldon sea salt and bake for 25-30 min until fully cooked (it should be really soft). 

3) Once pumpkin has cooled down, crumble in the feta cheese and add chopped piquillo peppers combine well.

Now assemble your tart.
1) In a 24cm pit tin (with a drop out base) roll and line with savoury pastry (recipe to follow). 

2) Pack the pumpkin mix into the tart and seal with top layer of pastry and bake at 170c for 30-40 min or until golden brown. 

You can if you like lay top layer of pastry out flat on top of the pie or as I have let it fold and wrinkle around, to avoid wastage and in my opinion give you a better finish, as I'm a sucker for a good bit of extra pastry with my pie.

This is also the same with glazing the pie I don’t bother as this does nothing to the final taste of the pie, as it is purely cosmetic and adds shine to the finished product. If you do like the shine, then we use either a traditional egg yolk wash or, more often, soy cream which works really well.