Out and About Eastnor Castle Chilli Festival

Our Lizzy May Day Bank Holiday Tradition!

The Chilli Festival at Eastnor Castle is a well established event featuring both local and national producers of all things spice! I love sharing recipes in the cookery theatre and enjoy stocking up on favourite products beforehand. This year I stocked up on locally made vegan sausages from Chill your Beans, chilli sauce from Fat Man Chilli, smoked chilli from Chilli Zoo. I also got some Isle of Wight smoked garlic and some local cider.

In my cookery demonstration I made sticky Smoky Sausages and a Spicy Tempeh dish using locally made tempeh from Beet the System.

Sticky Smoky Sausages

• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 1 pack chill your beans sausages
• 1 tsp smoked chipotle chilli
• 75ml apple juice or cider
• 1 tbsp brown sugar/agave nectar
• extra virgin rapeseed oil

Heat some oil in a heavy pan, when the oil is hot add the onions and peppers. Cook for about three minutes then add the sausages. Add the smoked chilli, cook briefly then add the Sweet Freedom syrup and the apple juice.  Continue cooking until the mixture is browned and sticky.

 

 

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Healthy Vegan Lunches

We had a great time on the recent Packed Lunches cookery course. The day involved a lot more than sandwiches! When making workday lunches, time is often of the essence. It’s good to be able to prepare a few things quickly, and also to plan ahead, so there are things in the fridge or freezer which can be pulled out to use.

In the morning we prepared quinoa, farro and wholegrain pasta salads. We then prepared a range of soups which we enjoyed with homemade bread.

 

Great fun was had making up the noodle jars, healthy pot noodle! There are some fabulous noodles available which don’t involve precooking and so are perfect for the jars. We added cooked shredded tofu.

We then made a selection of bean pates and dips which we used to make up some rather posh vegan sandwiches!

 

Chill your Beans Sausage Casserole

2019 has started really well for vegans! More and more people are signing up to try Veganuary. There has been great discussion about Gregg’s vegan sausage roll and new ranges of ready meals are appearing in supermarkets. I have mixed feelings about this as I’m passionate about teaching people to cook healthy meals for themselves.

One new product that has got me excited is a new locally made vegan and gluten free sausage. They really good quality and packed with flavour and texture. Chill your Beans https://chill-yourbeans.co.uk/ my customers are going to love them

If you are based in Worcestershire go and buy a pack and have a go at this recipe!

Sausage and Chestnut Casserole

Serves 3 or 4

Ready in 20 minutes

• 1 large red onion, sliced
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• 6 ‘Chill your Beans’ sausages
• a handful of chopped cooked chestnuts
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tin chopped tomatoes/passata
• 1 to 2 tbsp rapeseed oil

Add oil to a pan, sauté the onion and pepper until caramelised.

Add the sliced sausages cook until golden. Add smoked paprika and stir briefly.

Add the tomatoes/passata. Cook for 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced.

Add fresh herbs to serve.

Try adding a handful of borlotti beans instead of the chestnuts! Or add a splash of vegan red wine.

Vegan Bailey’s Cheesecake

It’s always good to sample new products and the vegan Baileys has been out for a while but I’ve only recently sampled it! It’s great served chilled or added to a coffee.

I thought it would make a great partner with cheesecake so I had a little play and here it is!

Vegan Bailey’s Cheesecake

 

300g of hob nobs and Bourbon biscuits mixed

50g almonds

75g Pure sunflower margarine

2 tubs Tofutti vegan cream cheese at room temperature

75ml Alpro soya cream approx

75ml Bailey’s Almande approx

Place the biscuits, nuts and margarine in a food processor and mix until combined. Spoon the mixture into a flan tin and press down firmly. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Place the soft the soft cheese in a bowl, mix with a spoon until soft then add the Bailey’s Almande and soya cream. Mix until smooth and spread on top of the biscuit base.

Smooth the top using a palette knife and place in the fridge to set.

Fun with Street Food

Street Food has continued to be popular with courses and at festivals. We use Jackfruit, seitan, tofu and tempeh to create some tasty dishes.

We have fun using vital wheat gluten to make our own seitan. It is the main protein found in wheat. It is traditionally made by washing wheat flour until all the starch has been removed, leaving a gluten dough.  It was eaten cenuries ago by Buddhist monks in China in the from of mock duck. It is now much easier to make seitan, with the availability of vital wheat gluten flour.  It is very much like meat in texture, and has a very high protein content.

 

 

The vegan B&B that can teach you how to cook the delights you eat there

via The vegan B&B that can teach you how to cook the delights you eat there

Young Chefs at Malvern Food Festival

It was a pleasure to cook with a group of young chefs from Malvern at Great Malvern Food Festival on Bank Holiday Monday. We worked Ready Steady Cook Style using local produce. I was very impressed with their chopping skills. One team were given tins of beans and chose to make a spicy chilli. The other team sliced vegetables and rustled up some fajitas featuring local chutney.

The audience got to sample the food and cast their votes. It was a draw! Everyone was enjoyed the food and there were lots of positive comments about the tasty the food and how well they worked together.

 

Here are the recipes if you’d like to try it at home.

 

Smoky Three Bean Chilli

 

1 chopped onion

1 clove of garlic crushed

optional chopped peppers, grated carrot,

3 tins of kidney beans/aduki beans/ blackeyed beans

1 tin of chopped tomatoes or a carton of passata

½ to 1 tsp crushed dried chillies to taste)

soy sauce to taste (optional)

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

 

Heat oil in a pan, sauté the onion with the chopped vegetables.

Add the grated carrot and garlic, if using, and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the dried chillies with the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, and stir well.

Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Taste; add more dried chillies if required.

 

Works well with soya mince; use 100g to replace 2/3 of the beans

 

Sizzling Fajitas

 

red onion sliced

mixed peppers sliced

mushrooms or courgettes sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp crushed coriander seeds (or to taste)

½ tsp dried chilli flakes

lime juice

soy sauce

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

 

Heat some oil a wok or griddle pan, when the oil is hot add the sliced vegetable. Stir fry until cooked. The vegetables should still be fairly crunchy.

Add the garlic and lime juice along with crushed coriander and chillies.

We used Sarah’s Feisty Flavours Spicy Tomato chutney on the day in place of the chilli flakes.

 

 

Malvern in May

Spring was a long time coming this year. The month of May has been really uplifting. The month of May is always special in Malvern and it’s been a pleasure to share the beauty of it with lovely B and B guests.

The apple and cherry blossom was stunning. My cherry tree was laden with flowers so hopefully lots of delicious fruit to come. The bluebells and the wild garlic flowers looking amazing as ever. I’m enjoying using the wild garlic leaves in the cookery school.

The wells were decorated for May Bank holiday weekend. The theme this year was celebrating the anniversary of women gaining the right to vote.

The Weavers Well was my personal favourite: it reminded me of Our Lizzy HQ!

Vegan Street Food

Vegan Street Food Our Lizzy style was launched this month! Fast food favourites with a healthy twist.

My cookery course had a lot of influence from South East Asia but with British and American classics mixed in.We used vital wheat gluten flour to make homemade seitan.

Seitan is made from gluten, the main protein found in wheat. It is traditionally made by washing wheat flour until all the starch has been removed, leaving a gluten dough. It was eaten centuries ago by Buddhist monks in China in the from of mock duck.

On the course we make seitan steaks, sizzling strips, and used the ground form to make burgers.

 

Teriyaki seitan steak

Pulled Jackfruit

Tofu with peanut sauce

Sizzling seitan

Mushroom and seitan burger

Crispy tempeh with BBQ sauce

I enjoy using jackfruit and was keen to share ideas for using it. We cooked one batch with local cider, made a lime and chilli version and Sloppy Joes.

We also used tofu and tempeh with a range of homemade sauces and dips.

 

 

 

A Snowy White Christmas!

The Christmas course here on Sunday was rather special as we had snow in Malvern. I was absolutely delighted to meet Faye who made it through the snow to attend. Already a keen cook she has recently won the Rotary Young Chef of the Year Award.

 

After a hot drink, mince pies and shortbread we prepared desserts then set to work on pastry dishes. We made a Roasted Red Pepper and Chestnut Strudel  and a Sweet Potato and Veggie Sausage Pithivier. Lots of careful pastry rolling and filling took place.

 

We used filo pastry to creative some little baskets for starters and money bags filled with Mushrooms and Almonds. With the help of Faye’s parents we prepped and cooked crispy roast potatoes, root veg with cranberries and cider, red wine gravy and a batch of Brussels sprouts cooked with sesame seeds and soy sauce.

 

We then sat down to enjoy our snowy festive feast!