Yogi Pie

I has been a funny old week and to be honest I am glad that its Friday. The last two and a half years have been full of upheaval for us as a couple. We finished a project in Germany and were set to move back to London when we were informed that Alex would need to spend at least 7 months of the year in Germany. I moved to London and Alex visited. A few months in and I was in Germany for the weekend when we found out I was pregnant after years of trying. We went to bed overwhelmed with joy but the next morning I had to be at the airport. A week after announcing that I was pregnant we realized that we couldn’t spend 7 months apart each year with a new born and that would mean giving up my beloved London and us all moving together to a new city in Germany. We planned all this whilst on holiday in LA. We also got married whilst we were there. We flew back together and then alex flew back to Germany the next day. Those weeks in LA was the longest period that we had together whilst I was pregnant. We picked a flat in a city we didn’t know from separate countries. We met in Munich for one weekend in order to find a doctor willing to deliver the baby (you have to book early in Germany) and to secure a hospital place. I got here 6 weeks before the baby arrived (2 weeks late) and we have been a family here ever since.

The thing is though, we miss London and yet we daren’t say it. To the outside world we have all that we could ever hope for. We have the most amazing daughter, we are healthy and we are financially stable. But life is about connections. Its walking down streets that make you look up from your phone and smile. Its customs and traditions that you understand, that you recognize. It is a way of life.It is the white van driver that waves you across the road and the corner shop that lets you pay tomorrow. Life is fuller with your tribe and your community. I miss my city. I miss the city that made me who I am. I miss my family and my friends and most of all I miss that they don’t see the baby every week. But most of all I miss my husband. He isn’t the same here. Not as happy, not as inspired, not as relaxed. I miss his jokes and his cheekiness, I miss his drive and his selflessness. We never thought it possible but he misses London more than I do.

This week was a week when he felt it and there was nothing much I could do except hug him and watch from the sidelines. I think its time to book a little trip, to have a day or too eating sushi, walking the streets of soho and showing the baby our favorite haunts. But for today I will make this yogi pie, because nothing seems more British than a pie. This yogi pie follows the same base as a cottage or shepherds pie but replaces meat for lentils. I used cooked red lentils but you could use any colour or a mix of all. If your little one is just starting out on food, then simply puree the veggies and lentils and then serve with a little spoon of mashed potato. This is warm, autumn food. Serve with a green salad tossed with vinaigrette and a side of love. Happy weekend x

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 large mashing potatoes
1 tbsp milk
1 large tin red lentils drained (400g)
1 onion finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
1 courgette
1/2 yellow pepper finely chopped
1/2 red pepper finely chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tomatoes
1 tsp tumeric

Method
Peel the potatoes, cut into chunks and boil until soft
Preheat the oven to 180C
Whilst the potatoes are boiling, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add in the onion, carrots and courgette
Allow the vegetables to soften and then add in the ginger, peppers and tumeric
Cook for a few minutes and then add in the chopped tomatoes and the lentils
Cook for another few minutes and then transfer to a baking safe dish
Take the cooked potatoes, add in some milk and mash till smooth
Top the lentil mix with the potatoes leaving peaks
Sprinkle on some cheese if you fancy and then bake for 25mins

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Banana eggy bread

French toast to some this will always be eggy bread to me.

I used to go on Brownie camp every year, and every year we would get eggy bread one morning for breakfast. Depending on your duty that morning you sometimes got to be the lucky one dipping slice after slice of bread ready to feed a troop of hungry mouths. The only bad fate was if you were left till last with the heel of the loaf. Nothing is a bigger let down that heel of the loaf eggy bread. Back then I hadn’t even heard of maple syrup and the only choice of topping was ketchup. I grew up firmly in the eggy bread as a savory breakfast camp and despite the husband and LA’s best efforts maple syrup does not get plate space with my ‘french toast’. With the little one loving finger food, eggy bread is a great breakfast. Its easy and quick to make and is a total family pleaser. This recipe adds in banana but you can leave it out, or add in other flavors like grated carrot, grated apple or just keep it plain and simple.

This banana eggy bread is the baby’s favorite variety. The banana caramelizes and sweetens the bread meaning that you don’t need any extra sweetener or syrup. I like to serve hers on lollipop sticks, interspersed with slices of soft or cooked fruit. She loves pulling the food off and I love that there is less food flung around the kitchen.

Can we just go back to maple syrup for one second. Did it exist in Europe in the 90’s? What about hummus? Chia seeds? There are so many foods now that are a regular part of my diet. Foods that don’t seem exotic to me at all in many ways and yet if I think about them, I think I only tasted them in my twenties for the first time. Along with hummus and maple syrup I could also add sushi, dimsum, thai green curry, tofu, and so many more. What about you?

Thankfully this eggy bread is as good now as it was 25 years ago. This is a recipe that I loved growing up and that my daughter loves now. I hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 large slices of bread
2 eggs whisked
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp cinnamon
1 ripe banana

Method
Whisk together the eggs and the banana
Stir in the cinnamon
Whisk in the milk
Soak the bread slices in the eggy mixture
Once they are well soaked place into a hot oiled pan and cook on either side until golden brown

For little ones, cut into cubes and serve with soft fruit

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YNBO- barely baked bakewell tart

Val has exited the tent. I realize that she was probably never going to win, but I did have a soft spot for her. I love that fact that baked from memory and challenged Paul “we like our Danishes a little soft in the middle in our house”. It also turns out that she makes a Bakewell tart weekly. Who makes any tart weekly? Let alone a Bakewell? To be perfectly honest I don’t think I have ever tried bakewell tart, but I do love the combination of fruity jam, marzipan and a biscuity base.

I thought about tackling danish pastries or filo pastry this week, but filo seemed like a crazy crazy idea and most filo that you can buy ready made is plant based anyway, and danish pastries just don’t excite me. Lets not lie, if there was only one option for a Scandinavian treat it would OBVIOUSLY be the cinnamon bun!

So this morning I set about making the YNBO version of the bakewell tart. Knowing that the case would be holding marzipan and a sweet jam layer I didn’t want to make the dough too sweet. I used oats, ground down into a flour, added ground almonds and then used a ripe banana to bind it all together. A teaspoon of coconut oil and one date for added stickiness and I had the perfect consistency. If you can’t tolerate nuts you could easily not add them. This dough tastes amazingly good, not too sweet but somewhat decadent. It would be great rolled into balls or made into bars as a post or pre workout snack….

I pressed the dough into mini muffin tins and baked for 15 minutes until they were golden and crunchy. Then all I had to do was fill them with a spoonful of homemade marzipan and top then with a spoon of extra thick cherry and damson chia jam. So simply, so delicious. These barely baked bakewell tarts are the perfect afternoon treat, paired with a rich espresso and shared with friends.

 

Barely Baked Bakewell Tart – makes 24 mini tarts

Ingredients (base)
200g oats
3 tbsp ground almonds
1tsp coconut oil
1 ripe banana
1 date

Method
Preheat your oven to 160C
Place the oats into a food processor with the almonds and grind down into a flour
Add in the banana and the oil and process until a dough begins to form
Add in the date and pulse until combined
Press the dough into mini muffin tins and bake for 15mins
Remove and allow to cool

Ingredients (Marzipan)
150g blanched almonds
1.25 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp rosewater

Method
Place the almonds into a food processor & pulse until you have a fine flour like powder
Add in the syrup & rosewater
Pulse until you have a dough
Roll into balls or any shape you like
Store in the fridge for up to a week

For the chia jam I used this recipe but substituted the blueberries for half cherries and half damsons. I also added an extra tbsp of chia to make it extra thick.

 

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Family friendly ratatouille

Ratatouille makes me think of my mum, and to be honest I’m not even sure why. I don’t think she made it much, as she isn’t a fan of tomatoes, but somehow thoughts of her are wrapped up in this dish.

It’s strange how evocative food can be, how a taste can transport you. Pistachio icecream takes me to France. To waiting in the supermarket laundrette for another load to be done. The laundrettes were always glass boxes, heated by the summer sun & the driers on full pelt. Pre smart phone days, there were few entertainment options whilst you waited for the weekly wash other than a game of uno & a tub of icecream.

Cinnamon and cardamom will always take me straight to Oslo. To bakeries & snowy days. To Sunday afternoons when we would “go for a run out” in the car, a flask of coffee and some buns packed to keep us going (probably alongside the snow shovel & the thermal blankets…just in case).

To be honest I’m not sure where ratatouille fits in. Maybe it makes me think of France, maybe it’s because the smell of freshly picked tomatoes is one of my absolute favourite smells. Maybe we did eat it a lot growing up but I have forgotten. Either way, this was the perfect meal to share with the baby today as we woke up to the arrival of autumn here in Munich. It is seriously chilly. Nippy hands, rosy cheeks, thick jumper chilly. Ratatouille is warming, comfort food. Perfect as the evenings get longer, and perfect for the end of season tomatoes.

This recipe is a simple one. The best usually are. Serve with doorsteps of crusty bread or another grain. Puree or mash if needed for the little ones. Dish up, snuggle up and enjoy.

Ingredients (serves 4)
6 large ripe tomatoes chopped

1 large courgette cubed

1 aubergine cubed

1 red pepper cubed

2 tsp herbs de Provence

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 shallot

Method
Finely chop the shallot and add to a large pan with the oil and herbs

Gently soften and then add in the aubergine

Cook the aubergine for 4 mins and then add in all the other vegetables

Stir well and cook on a medium heat until the tomatoes begin to break down

Turn down the heat, cover and allow to cook on a low heat for 25-35 minutes until all the vegetables are soft and well cooked

Serve and enjoy

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Avocado and broccoli pesto

Pasta pesto makes me think of living in Hackney. Of taking the 55 bus home from work (because I couldn’t afford the tube). It reminds me of getting off the bus early at Diss St, picking up pesto, pasta & chilled coronas at the corner shop and going to see two beautiful friends. Their flat always felt so much more grown up & together. Their jobs were more important and exciting.

Their nights out were what urban stories are made from. Whenever things were rocky in my own life, I would pile into their flat and we would eat pesto pasta, drink beer & try to widen my film knowledge.

What I would give for corona & chats with those two right now but I would make the pesto, because this version is even more delicious & also because it contains avocado which would amuse them both.

This sauce is good. Really really good. It’s rich and creamy, but at the same time it isn’t heavy. By switching out the usual oil for avocado you get a sauce which is packed with good fats, loaded with vitamin C and most importantly it sticks perfectly to pasta (or courgetti for that matter). The broccoli base doesn’t mask the basil but adds an earthiness as well as packing in even more vegetables. There are no nuts in this but you could add in pine nuts or cashews if you wanted. There is also no salt, making it baby friendly, so salt your portion as needed. If your little one is just starting with pasta then use chopped vermicelli for spoon feeding or easy to pick up fusilli as finger food. If they aren’t on pasta yet then you could easily let them just eat a spoonful of the pesto or stir it in with pureed potato. I imagine it is delicious too on toast topped with perfectly ripe tomatoes, or mixed with hummus a top a baked potato. It will keep in the fridge, in a sealed jar, for five days so enjoy experimenting with it. For the record, I recognise that this is hardly a pesto as the ingredients haven’t been pounded together. It’s also hardly a Genovese sauce as it doesn’t contain hard cheese or pine nuts. But it is a creamy, basily sauce of deliciousness that takes minutes to create & will feed a family. Enjoy

Ingredients (makes 6 servings)
1 head broccoli

1 ripe avocado

1 large handful basil

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp pepper (optional)

Method
Cut the broccoli into florets & boil until well cooked

Place into a food processor with all the other ingredients (avocado at the bottom)

Blend until you have a thick creamy sauce

Stir through cooked pasta

Enjoy

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