Vegetable pot roast with dumplings

March 29, 2017November 10, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ 3 Comments

Whoah there people. I know it’s almost April but it’s still bloody freezing, so pop a jumper on over that vest top and slip on a pair of long johns because it still ain’t warm enough to walk around topless. You hear that men of London? It’s not and never has been, acceptable to walk around town with your shirt off, I don’t want to see your nipples on the tube thank you. Oh and whilst we’re at it ladies, you might want to consider burning that crop-top you bought last year from H&M, especially if you’re over 25 and don’t have the abs of a teenage boy.

Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, I’m freeeeeezing! So I decided to make this vegetable broth with goats cheese dumplings to warm my chronically cold body. Sometimes I’m so cold, I think I might actually be dead. Meh.

Vegetable pot roast with dumplings
Serves 4 / Hands on time 1 hr / Total time 2 hrs / V ❄
Knob of unsalted butter
5 shallots or 1 white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
300g Chantenay carrots (stalks trimmed if necessary)
1 tbs plain flour
1 tbs tomato puree
1,200ml vegetable stock, I use 1 Knorr stock pot
150ml vegetarian cider
2 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
250g new potatoes, halved
250g swede, peeled and cut into chunks
2 woody sprigs of fresh thyme (woody stalks are more robust & will be easier to remove)
2 handfuls of frozen peas
For the dumplings
175g self-raising flour
25g vegetarian suet
80g soft goats cheese, divided into bits or crumbled
50g vegetarian Italian hard cheese or Parmesan*, grated
Handful of freshly chopped parsley
Fresh bread and extra virgin olive oil to serve (optional)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Peel and roughly chop the onions and put them in a large, oven-proof casserole pot with a lid. Cook in the butter on a medium heat for 5 mins with the lid on – add a dash of water to help them steam. Add the celery and the whole carrots and continue to cook for a further 5 mins with the lid on. Stir in the flour, add a dash of water and continue to cook and stir for 2 mins.
2. Add the tomato puree along with the vegetable stock and the cider. Bring to the boil before adding the potatoes, swede, leek, parsnips and a couple woody sprigs of thyme. Season well with salt and pepper, replace the lid but leaving it a jar and roast for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, make the dumplings (these are really easy to make so don’t be daunted). In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the flour, vegetarian suet, grated parmesan, goats cheese, parsely and a good season of salt and pepper. Add 6 tablespoons of water and give it a good mix with a wooden spoon. Once the dough has come together, use your hands to knead the dough in the bowl until it has come together. Using your hands, pick up a small handful of dough and roll it in-between your palms to make a dumpling. Repeat this process until you have 8 evenly sized dumplings. Put to one side.
4. Once the stew has cooked, carefully remove from the oven and take off the lid. Discard the sprigs of thyme, before carefully inserting your dumplings into the stew using a spoon to lower them in, making sure the dumplings are evenly spread out. Cover with the lid if you like soft dumplings or leave uncovered for crusty ones. Pop back in the oven for a further 20 mins.
5. Remove the pot roast from the oven and scatter over the peas. Replace the lid and leave to rest for 5 mins. ladle into bowls (allowing 2 dumplings per person) and enjoy topped with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a good chunk of fresh bread.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian
*Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiani) is always made using animal rennet, therefore it is not vegetarian. Substitute for Italian hard cheese if applicable.
❄– Suitable for home freezing once cooled. Consume within 3 months

Kale & cheese omelette

March 20, 2017October 31, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

I’m currently sitting in my pjs watching Homes Under The Hammer and eating Omelette’s #livingthedream and yes, you heard, that was omelette’s plural. I made such a good omelette this morning, that I decided to make another one. What? It’s my week off before I start my new and exciting life over at Sainsbury’s Magazine so I thought, yeah, if I want two omelettes, I should have two omelettes… Feel a bit sick now though but that’s due to the packet of Veggie Percy Pigs I ate for dessert.
Jamie usually makes the omelette’s in our house, but as he’s at work (selfish) I had to make my own omelette which was very daunting. I’m not good at making omelette’s, they usually turn into burnt scrambled eggs. But I’ve been observing Jamie over the past year and have discovered his secret. Instead of incorporating the cheese into the egg mixture, he sprinkles it on top of the omelette like a pizza. Then he folds it carefully over once and continues to cook it until the cheese melts in the centre (drool). Don’t think I’ve said the word omelette enough in this post, omelette, omelette, omelette…….. OMELETTE!

Kale & cheese omelette
Serves 1 / Hands on time 10 mins / Total time 10 mins / V Gf
1 tsp of olive oil
2 eggs
1 garlic clove, crushed
Small handful of kale
Sprinkling of finely sliced red onion
¼ deseeded red chilli, finely chopped
30g vegetarian cheddar cheese, grated

Method
1. Crack two eggs into a jug and give them a quick beat with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chopped onion, chilli, garlic and kale and give it another quick beat to combine. Grate the cheese and put to one side.
2. Drizzle the oil in a non-stick frying pan and put on a medium to high heat. Once hot, pour your omelette mix into the middle of the pan and spread out evenly with a spatular. Top with a layer of grated cheese and wait a couple of minutes for the omelette to set. Once set, it should start to come away from the edges of the pan.
3. Using a spatular, carefully fold the omelette in half and continue to cook until the cheese has melted in the middle. After a minute, flip the omelette over and cook for another minute on the other side. Once you can see the cheese has melted in the middle, serve immediately.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian Gf– Gluten free

Dark chocolate chip cookies

March 13, 2017January 30, 2021 ~ Corrie ~ 1 Comment

I used to make these cookies all the time, in fact, I’ve been making them so long, I don’t even remember how this recipe came to be. So why does my first batch look like something that came out of my housemates dog?
My faultless recipe is clearly faulty – either that, or my nine-year-old self is a better cook than I am. If she were here right now I’d slap her. What? She’s not real! Anyway, admittedly it’s been a while since I’ve made these (ten years) but surely it’s like riding a bike?
I look down at the burnt little puddles stuck to my baking tray, ‘how can they be burnt AND raw?’ I ponder. Without thinking I plunge my finger into a partially oozy one, it’s as hot as molten lava. I drop the tray and it lands face down on the floor.
Round two. I up the heat, reduce the cooking time, swap plain flour for self-raising and use an electric whisk. Having no idea if any of these decisions are the right ones and having eaten most of the chocolate, this was my last chance. However, this time I would be more cautious and bake a smaller batch of 6 six instead of eighteen.
Burnt?! Again!… But at least the butter didn’t separated this time so they looked a little less ‘pooey’. Feeling encouraged by my progress, I line up another six and pop them in the oven, reducing the cooking time by 5 minutes. SUCCESS! Chewy, golden, melt in the mouth little roundels of heaven. I knew I could do it. Now all I have to do is not eat another one, I’m on a diet… I hate my life.

My original cookie recipe

Dark chocolate chip cookies
Makes 16-18 cookies / Hands on time 20 mins / Total time 30 mins / V ❄
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
2 heaped tbs condensed milk
50g Green and Black’s Organic 70% Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped
½ tsp vanilla extract
150g self-raising flour
Sea salt flakes for sprinkling

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Using an electric whisk in a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk and the vanilla extract and continue to whisk until incorporated.
2. On a chopping board using a large knife, roughly chop the chocolate. Add to the mixture along with the flour. Using a wooden spoon, mix together by hand until you have a well incorporated cookie dough.
3. Line two baking trays with baking paper and put to one side. Using your hands, scoop up a ball of the dough roughly the size of a walnut. Roll it in-between your hands until you have a ball and place on one of the lined baking trays. These may look small but they will spread A LOT during baking, so allow plenty of space around each cookie and bake in batches. No more than 6-8 per tray depending on the size of your tray.
4. Sprinkle each cookie with a small amount of sea salt flakes and bake for 8-10 mins. When the cookies are cooked, they should look golden at the edges but light and slightly raised in the centre. (They will still look quite raw in the centre but this is what makes them nice and chewy. Once out of the oven they will flatten).
5. Cool for 5 mins on the trays before carefully transferring to a cooling rack. Any remaining cookie dough can be rolled into balls and baked on the same lined trays or frozen. To freeze, simply roll the cookie dough into a sausage and wrap well in baking paper or clingfilm and freeze. Defrost fully before use and consume within 3 months.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V – Vegetarian
❄ – The cookie dough is suitable for home freezing. Roll into a sausage shape and wrap in a few layers of clingfilm. Consume within 3 months.

Soba noodle miso bowls

March 6, 2017January 25, 2021 ~ Corrie ~ 9 Comments

Not much happened this week, oh apart from me getting A NEW JOB! Yes that’s right, you’re now looking at the new Art Editor of Sainsbury’s Magazine, boo-ya! Bring on type 2 diabetes and inevitable weight gain.
I’m very excited but a little sad to be leaving the world of celebrity, although I won’t miss Kim Kardashian – I know far too much about her lady parts than I care to… No, I wasn’t previously her surgeon, I was in fact Art and Food Editor of celebrity gossip magazine, heat. So I’ll be swapping celebrity shoots with the likes of (not Kim Kardashian) Charlotte Crosby and Olly Murs for food shoots and a life of eating. To say I’m excited doesn’t quite cover it. So let’s celebrate me becoming a proper grown up, with a grown up job and a financial adviser and everything, with this delightful bowl of noodles. Considering I made this very hungover, I think it turned out quite well.

Soba noodle miso bowls
Serves 2 / Takes 30 minutes / V Vn* Df
700ml boiling water
1 vegetable stock pot or cube, I use 1 Knorr
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs miso paste
100g button mushrooms or any other variety of mushroom you may have
2 handfuls cavolo nero or kale, roughly chopped
2 eggs, boiled (optional)
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 shallot or ½ a medium sized onion, finely sliced
1 knob of ginger, grated
2 nest of soba or fine egg noodles
Small handful of mint, chopped
1 lime
De-seeded red chilli, sliced (optional)
Black sesame seeds (optional)

*Vegan: The eggs in the soup are entirely optional. I make it frequently without and it’s just as delicious so if you’re vegan, leave them out.

Method
1. Boil a full kettle and put two eggs in a medium sized saucepan (you will also be using this saucepan to cook the noodles later). Cover with boiling water and simmer over a low to medium heat to hard boil them.
2. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the shallot and grate the ginger. Fry together in a small frying pan in a tsp of sesame oil until soft with the lid on. Once cooked, take off the heat and put to one side.
3. In a large saucepan, pour 700ml boiling water over the vegetable stock pot, miso paste and soy sauce. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Half the button mushrooms and roughly chop the cavolo nero and add to the simmering broth.
4. Meanwhile chop a handful of fresh mint and put to one side. By now the eggs should be hard boiled. Remove from the simmering water with a slotted spoon but leave the water in the pan for the noodles. Pop the eggs in a bowl and leave under a running cold tap until cool. Put to one side.
5. In the same simmering water you cooked the eggs in, submerge the noodles and simmer according to the packet instructions. Drain and give them a blast of cold water to cool then down (this prevents them from continuing to cook). Divide the cold noodles into bowls.
6. Peel the eggs and cut them in half before pouring the mushroom and cavolo nero broth over the noodles. Submerge the eggs into soup and top with the ginger fried onions, freshly chopped mint and a sprinkling of black sesame seeds. Squeeze over the lime wedges and a chopped deseeded red chilli to serve
(optional).

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian Df– Dairy free