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Food painting artwork
30 x 30cm oil on canvas. Imagine a typicalBy the way, all the food painting artwork is available to own in the Official Art Store.
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The meatless meals recipe
I know what you're thinking, bangers and mash is not very vegetarian, and vege sausages are cheating. Yes, I agree with you. Partly.
Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where sausages and sides are on the menu, and then suddenly a vegetarian shows up. In which case beef gravy may not be appropriate! Or maybe you're like me who actually genuinely enjoys vegetarian sausages (I love the tofu/tvp variety but will turn my nose up at the vegetables-mashed-together variety).
At these times, you may need to know how to make a vegetarian gravy. It's really easy, btw. Or maybe you want some easy side dishes that are more exciting than just boiled something to go along with the bangers and the mash (mashed potato). This recipe installment is more about these sides than the main event. These turn bangers and mash into a memorable meatless meal.
Onion Gravy
Too easy, full of flavour and insanely useful.1 large onion, chopped how you like (it is served intact as part of the gravy)
2 1/2 cups stock
knob of butter
2 2/2 tablespoons cornflour
1/4 cup wine (optional, and include this volume as part of the 2 1/2 cups of stock)
Melt the butter and gently fry the onion until it is soft and golden.
Add the stock (and wine) and simmer gently until the gravy changes from pale to a deep brown. I tend to leave this on low while everything else I'm cooking for the meal is in progress and then move onto the next step just before serving.
Blend the cornflour with a little cold water and add to the gravy.
Keep stirring and simmering until the gravy thickens.
Then serve.
Appled Cabbage
I believe this is of German origin. It's way better than soggy plain boiled cabbage.1/2 apple, chopped small
1/2 cup water or stock plus 2 tablespoons
around 500g cabbage, shredded fine
knob of butter
Simmer apple in water, lid on, until it becomes very soft.
Mash into apple sauce.
Add cabbage, another 2 tablespoons water or stock and the knob of butter.
Turn the heat right down low and put the lid back on.
Cook for just enough minutes until the cabbage softens. This will depend on the thickness of your shredding.
Mix the apple and cabbage thorougly and serve.
Cauliflower Cheese to Die For
This was a bold experiment that went spectacularly well on some very surprised guests. The cheese soaks all the way through the cauliflower and makes it melt in your mouth. Just divine.750g cauliflower, cut into florets
250g cream cheese
1/3 cup weak stock
2 pinches hot paprika
Put everything in a lidded oven casserole dish. Using the order given is easyest. Roughly mix the cream cheese over the cauliflower pieces. This will be difficult, so don't get precious about it.
Bake in the oven at 180 C.
*TURN AFTER 30 MINUTES* (Can you tell this step is important?) You will be able to mix the cream cheese and cauliflower properly now. The cauliflower will not look very cooked yet, it really has just come up to cooking temperature. The next half hour is when the magic happens.
Bake for a further 30 minutes, 1 hour in total.
Serve and devour!
All of these serves are for 4.
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More vegetarian cookbook goodies
Need help with conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.
Want to check out more vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.
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