Spiced Pear And Rhubarb Pie

 Pinterest Finds 1 / 2 {cafesphotoblog.blogspot.com.au}

Spiced Pear And Rhubarb Pie

♥

Pastry
8 ozs of plain flour {Plus extra for rolling out}
1 teaspoon of ground semolina
4 ozs of Vitalite dairy free spread {or similar}
3/4 tablespoons of very cold water
soya milk {to brush the top of the pie}

Filling
3/4 pears {or more if pears are small}
2/3 stalks of rhubarb
3/4 generous tablespoons of agave nectar
1 teaspoon of caster sugar mixed with a little cinnamon {optional}
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

Method

Sift flour into a large bowl.

Add dairy free spread and mix in with tips of your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs {tip stop and run hands under cold water for a few seconds and continue as its better to keep pastry mix cold}

When mixed in add enough water to mix into a smooth dough.

Wrap in cling film and pop into the fridge for a least an hour to rest.

Peel and chop up the  pears and rhubarb.

Heat the agave nectar in a pan gently and add the pears, when the pears have softened a little add the rhubarb then sprinkle with the cinnamon and vanilla essence.

Cook until the rhubarb starts to soften.

Cut off two thirds of the pastry and roll out into a circle to fit dish.

line the bottom of a dish with the pastry then sprinkle with ground semolina {this helps to prevent a soggy bottom}, fill with the fruit filling and roll the last third of the pastry to make the top of the pie, place over the dish and pinch to seal.

Brush with Soya milk and if using add a sprinkle of cinnamon infused caster sugar.

Bake for 30 or 40 minutes on 180C, 350F, Gas mark 4 or until golden brown on top.

Enjoy hot with soya ice cream or custard.

♥

I enjoyed lunch with pie for afters browsing the Melbourne Cafes website and more importantly their fantastic pinterest, that is a city that knows how to do coffee which meant many repins to my coffee shop ideas pin board.

Bank Holiday Weekend

 Autumn Pintrest finds 1, 2.

We spent the bank holiday weekend, which the whole family had off work {a rare occurrence}, just mooching, resting, eating out and eating pie, oh! and rescuing a young squirrel from next doors cat, who is a champion hunter and requires numerous rescuing of small mammals, some make it sadly some don’t. But this squirrel allowed us to feed it, then he or she spent a couple of hours at the patio window, not a good idea as our Patterdale terrier Megan is not to be trusted near small animals as she is a recuse dog once used for badger baiting, we then had to move him/her to another garden and up a tree for its safety.

On Saturday we visited Chorlton to stock up at the Unicorn supermarket this place is the best, it’s a vegan supermarket and the fresh produce is either grown organically by them or with a few food miles as possible there is always an abundant choice and they can’t restock the shelves fast enough, we picked up some lovely bread from Trove. We decided to dine at the Horse and Jockey while we were near, this is a proper old pub with log fires in the winter and and eclectic mix of furniture. There is a area that is dog friendly, they also have a book group and a monthly Farmers Market on the green outside. The menu has a varied choice for the plant based/vegan diet and its clearly marked {although just be careful as a dish on the special lunch menu at the moment is labeled as vegan and its not as it has egg in it} I had the burger with chips sadly the fries were not up to muster {I normally order the skinny fries but forgot}. Mr. Kind Kitchen had a Chicken Kiev and reported it to be a little dry! I would though highly recommend the Horse and Jockey for atmosphere and a good choice of food. Sunday lunch was had at Damson Media City which was lovely, the kitchen were very accommodating we had pea, mint and asparagus risotto with chips, the restaurant has a lovely view of media city and the Salford Quays and a great atmosphere, a very relaxing Sunday lunch, love this much more in depth review on the fantastic blog dollybakes, check out her blog for much more sweet inspirations. I have really been craving sweet things lately which must be my body telling me winter is on the way as there are already leaves ready to fall on the trees on our road and a definite nip in the air this morning walking Miss Megan which means Autumn is just around the corner. One afternoon treat was this Black Cat Cakery Vanilla Chai cake from the Unicorn which I have had before at a restaurant in Manchester {Black Cat Cakery supply shops and restaurant only unfortunately} but the unicorn one has no sugar so had lots of added coconut, enjoyed in the garden reading. Hope you had a lovely weekend as well.
Susan x

Slugs Snails and Salad Days!

The vegetable boxes planted earlier in the year have benefited from our glorious summer so far, though It would appear that the slugs, snails and squirrels are not fooled by the kitsch Flamingo waving her wings in the breeze! and have been happily chomping away, still I don’t mind sharing dinner with them this year as there is plenty to go around. The carrots which were planted late are now showing their frilly tops above the soil so I still have something to look forward to for healthy homegrown dinners soon. Last nights tasty dinner of twice baked jacket potatoes with soya cheese, salad from the garden and some semi homemade garlic bread.

Resturant review of the week

Mildred's of Soho London

When in London a must visit is to the Delicious Mildred's in Soho every time we have eaten here it is always excellent all dishes are Veggie and most are either vegan or can be made vegan. It's a proper restaurant not hippy dippy service is fast and friendly try to get a window seat for people watching.
I would recommend the Mushroom & Ale pie.They have got really cool tote bags for take away now also

www.mildreds.co.uk

It's Been a While

This blog has been a bit neglected of late but my plant based life has not and after a summer of refection, rest and reorganisation I have found time and the courage to launch a new business and a newish life {more on all of that in later posts}. So there will be many more blog posts to follow soon.

AFTERNOON SWEETNESS
Whilst looking for something sweet to snack on after a quick rummage through the cupboards brought up nothing more than a packet of Oreo's, but on a side note what a joy these are now that they have changed the recipe in Britain and are now just fine for a vegan diet {just check the packet as old stock may be still on shop shelves!} I know that they are definitely not the perfect plant based snack but I am determined to try and make my own just more healthy. So next stop the freezer and a result a frozen Fruit Crumble so a quick defrost and some Swedish Glace ice cream and sweet tooth satisfied, eaten in the garden with a copy of The Simple Life Magazine from April which I found under another pile of magazines, perfect afternoon for the late summer. I have been attempting to be busy in our garden this summer {more posts on my attempts later on} and managed to save this hydrangea from the our northern summer wind to spruce up our living room.

The recipe for this Summer Fruit Crumble is taken from our other blog Crown&Country and is perfect for using up the late seasons crop or even frozen fruit.  

STRAWBERRY & RHUBARB CRUMBLE

1 Punnet of strawberries

1 Packet or 6/7 sticks of rhubarb

4 tablespoons of soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 table spoon of vegetable oil

2 tablespoons of non dairy butter [i.e vitalite]

Crumble Mix

8 oz of sifted plain flour

4 0z of vitalite or non dairy butter chilled

4 0z of demerara sugar plus extra to sprinkle on top

1 scant teaspoon of cinnamon for dusting

Pre heat the oven to 180c

Cut the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces. Heat oil and non dairy butter in a wide pan, when melted add the rhubarb and the sugar and cook until softened but not mushy. Add the vanilla and cinnamon.

Halve or quarter the strawberries depending on size and place with the cooked rhubarb into 1 large or 3 smaller dishes.

Crumble Topping

Sift flour into a mixing bowl add the cubed non dairy butter and mix together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Cover the rhubarb and strawberry mixture and dust with a little sugar and cinnamon.

Bake at 180c for approx 30 min's or until hot and the fruit is bubbling.

 

Susan x

STAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

VEGAN STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

 testing recipes for vegan cheesecakes for Kind Kitchen stall popped in the fridge to set now onto potato and lentil patties for dinner

SUMMER VEGATABLE SOUP

TONIGHT'S DINNER

2 carrots diced

2 courgettes diced

small bowl of frozen garden peas

[ I made double needed for last nights lasagna ]

small bowl of soup pasta or chopped up spaghetti

1 pint of home made veg stock or made up veg stock 

1 pint of passata or two cans of chopped tomatoes [for a fine sauce liquidize the canned tomatoes ]

4 or 5 cloves of garlic minced and tablespoon of veg oil

ground black pepper

herbs to taste rosemary/thyme/basil/oregano

1 Tablespoon of finely chopped parsley

Cook vegetables starting carrots in cold if not using leftovers in stock with added herbs and seasoning when water is boiling add pasta 

When vegetables have softened a little add passata or tomatoes, mix the garlic puree with the vegetable oil and add and mix in well

If using cooked vegetables boil up stock add tomatoes and seasoning and garlic then pasta cook until soft and add vegetables

Add a swirl of home made pesto to serve 

[check shop bought Parmesan cheese is not vegetarian ]