Banana & Cherry Slices

I've been considering cutting down my refined sugar intake. Or maybe cutting it out completely. I met someone else who is already doing this and it sort of re-enforced my thinking. So, when I went skipping (see my last post) and found 2 boxes or cherries, 6 bananas, and lots of oranges, I decided it was a good time to start some sugar-free baking. The recipe is incredibly simple and I really enjoyed these treats. They have a lovely subtle sweetness with more character than the sugary buns I had been baking. Now I'm sold on this sugar-free lark, and well on my way. Here's what I did.

I took the pips out of the cherries, squeezed the juice out of a few oranges and a lemon, and blended this all in a bowl with the 6 peeled bananas (like a lovely, thick smoothie). I added flour until I got a nice sloppy consistency, and I chopped up the other box of cherries and threw them in to get a nice chunky sweetness in the slices. I added a bit of oil and some nutmeg and cinammon. I poured the whole mixture onto a baking tray, thinly so it would cook within a reasonable amount of time.  Then I sprinkled some sunflower seeds on top for a laugh. And that's it. Let them cool and they're even nicer. Sugar-free and vegan. Beautiful.

- Dara

Skipping in Galway / Tips for New Skippers

I went skipping in Galway (Ireland) recently. I had lived there for years before I ever did any skipping, so it was nice to go back in my current mode and SKIP IT. I was there visiting a friend, so I brought him along and it was fun. We had no luck at first, even after scaling a wall into a supermarket back yard (normally this much effort is not necessary). However, upon hopping back over the wall to freedom, we ended up finding a whole plastic-bound package of milk cartons, in date. Presumably thrown over the supermarket wall by some kids or adults or just people. A strange happening, but my friend wanted milk for his tea so it worked out nicely. Though he got a little more than he bargained for (about 8 litres), and after some recent dairy-heavy skip hauls, I wasn't in the mood to help him out with its consumption.

We thought we'd have to be content with our milky lot, but decided to check out the back of one more shopping centre. After discovering several bags of raw meat, I realised I was probably in the wrong bin. 'This must be the butcher's bin,' I thought. More bags of meat. 'Yes, this is most certainly The Butcher's Bin.' I guess the people of Galway don't buy much meat, because it wall all in The Butcher's Bin. Anyway, after this deathly, fleshy encounter, I spied some lovely, clean supermarket bins - but in a cage, as often happens. Luckily, this one was bound with a loose chain & lock rather than a tight bolt & lock. So with some serious team work (arm-stretching from the front to pull the bin near us, and minor finger-pushing from behind through the small cage holes) we managed to gradually wheel it over to the gap between the cage doors. Because of the awkward positioning of the bin, and the small gap between the doors, I could only reach the stuff on top - which proved to be more than we could carry anyway. I foolishly brought some weak bin bags with me (you know, those white ones - good for nothing), which promptly broke and tore and spilled everywhere as soon as we filled them and reminded me of my own film, Hannah, in some kind of joke the universe was playing on me (I even had flowers to add to the coincidence, and dare-I-say irony, of it all - you'll see in the film). It was funny though, and the universe must be a sport because it all worked out and we managed to get home and of course it made the whole thing funnier and more enjoyable. Below is the haul we brought back. I made some delicious buns from the fruit, which you can read about in my next post.

  

If you haven't been skipping before and are considering it (great!) then I would recommend the following:

- Bring sturdy bags for skipping. Ideally an old backpack or gearbag. Bin bags are very unreliable and do not make for a stealthy getaway. (Fittingly, I just found a beautiful new backpack in a skip in Limerick, so that will be my regular from now on!)

- Bring a torch, pretty essential for night-time skipping (though I've used my phone in the past - not ideal)

- Keep looking. If you don't have luck at the first skip don't give up, there are plenty more skips in the sea, or city even. The right one for you is just around the corner.

- Always leave the bin as you found it. If you make a mess then it's likely they'll lock them up or hide them away next time. If you like being a spy then you can always pretend you're a spy on some kind of bin-related mission.

If you have any skipping questions, or would like to share some skipping locations and tips it would be cool to hear from you. Leave a comment with your email or just drop me a line here:

dara [at] fakedogfilms.com

- Dara

Soy Milk & Soy Bread

I've never been a big fan of soy milk. In fact I never tried it until last year. And when I tried it I thought, 'I was right. This is horrible and sweet and fake.' Then I read the ingredients. Horrible. I hate rubbish ingredients. Then, another time after that time, I saw some soy beans in an Indian shop. I decided to buy them. I realised, yes, I am going to make my own soy milk. And make it not-so-sweet or full of rubbish. Turns out, it's really easy.

Wash the soy beans and soak them overnight. The next day, give them a rinse and a drain. There is no need to cook them, we're going straight into the blender (yes, you need a blender for this one - apologies to the blender-deprived). So, what you do is blend up the soy beans with water - start with a 3:1 ratio of water:soy beans. Then strain off the liquid (with a sieve or some kind of filter paper if you're really posh - or a tea towel, that might work) into a pot. It should look white, like soy milk. Keep the solid soy bean mush left in the sieve/ paper/ tea towel/ whatever,  and pop it back in the blender for a second go. This time use maybe a 2:1 ratio. Repeat the straining, and go once again with a smaller bit of water, like 1:1. That's what I found to be a nice consistency. If you like it with a strong soy taste, use less water, or just use the first filtration.

Add some syrup (or sugar) to the pot of strained soy milk, depending on your preference. I find just a small bit of sweetener sets it off, but not too much. You can add salt if you like, but I don't like salt. Bring the mixture to the boil to pasteurise it (or something) and that's it! Give it a last strain if you like, when pouring it into a container, and keep it in the fridge. Delicious and refreshing. Now I can have cereal again!

But ah, what of that left-over soy mush? Well, that's what I was thinking. So I thought, what can I do with it? And I heard bread. Bread? Yes, bread. Put the soy mush in a bowl, add plenty brown flour (till you get a nice dough consistency), a dash or two of cider vinegar, yeast (follow the instruction on the packet), and a few glugs of oil. Also, I find adding some nutritional yeast flakes and bouillon to be quite nice. Or salt, if you like. Coat a baking dish with oil and then place the dough into it. Cover it (perhaps with a plate? A tea towel maybe?) and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour, or as long as you can wait. I find the latter normally takes precedent. Then, place it into a pre-heated oven, at some kind of hot temperature. Cook it till it's done (stick a skewer in and see if it comes out clear) and then you're done.

And that's it. Some delicious, protein-rich soy bread to have with your soy milk! Nothing goes to waste. Sure isn't that better than rubbish soy milk in silvery box packets? The milk holds for about 3 - 5 days in the fridge, from my experience. And the bread, as long as you can hold off eating it.

- Dara

Tuscan Bean Stew

This is very easy and delicious, and when served with olive oil drizzled on wholemeal toast it makes a nice filling meal. This one is full of sun-dried tomato oil, but it would be possible to make it with no fat by replacing oil with water.

I used: a big onion, two carrots, three cloves of garlic, a tin of tomatoes, about a teaspoon of very lovely veg stock, a good squirt of tomato paste, a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, a handful of kale, a chinese take-away box of frozen butterbeans (boil them up in bulk and freeze to avoid throwing away lots of tins) and a fistful of fresh coriander.

First I fried the onion and diced carrots in sunflower oil until they softened, then I added the chopped garlic for just a minute or two. Before it started to burn I added the tomatoes in all their forms, I also added the butterbeans. After letting it reduce for about 5 minutes I stirred in the kale. When it was all cooked and soft and bubbling beautifully I crushed my coriander (hence the fistful, rather than handful) then used scissors to chop it into the mixture before mixing it all it and taking it off the heat. A bit of freshly crushed black pepper and there you are - an excellent Tuscan bean stew.

Cabbage Bake

That Christmas Eve skipping haul I posted a while ago went a long way. I made some nice dishes from it, though I think I've had enough of dairy again for a while (then again I may skip a wheel of cheese next, so who knows). This recipe has some superfluous cheese, but apart from that it's delicious and vegan and entirely from the skip (condiments and seeds aside).

So, I chopped up the entire head, steamed it for a bit, then fried it up in a pot with some chopped garlic and oil. I added lots of sesame seeds, some Frank's Hot sauce (we don't work for them, really), tomato puree, and black pepper. The mixture was delicious and vegan just like that, but I went one step further, as I had cheese to use.

I put the mixture in a baking dish, used my last few slices of (at this stage extra mature) cheese, and stuck it in the oven. I served it with some garlic bread and (purchased!) veggie sausages. It was one of the nicest things I've created in a while, and I sort of regretted using the cheese as it would have been just lovely without it. But I don't regret it that much.

- Dara

Spinach, Watercress, Tofu and Avocado No-Quesa-dilla

First I thinly sliced some tofu and marinated it in balsamic vinegar and salt.

Next I wilted some spinach and put it to one side.

I diced the tofu and fried it in just a bit of sunflower oil for quite a while so it was really crispy.

Then I placed a tortilla (seeded, yeah!) into a flat based frying pan, and spread the spinach over it. I sprinkled the watercress and tofu over it, then added slices of avocado.

A fair bit of salt, some ground black pepper and a bit of balsamic vinegar all over it, then it's ready for another tortilla on top. First, though, take a step back and look how pretty it is. Admire the food.

If you use cheese (as in a quesadilla) then press the edges it seals nicely. This doesn't happen with the greens and browns of vegan food, but with a bit of vegan super-powers it is possible to turn the whole thing over and cook both sides so that the tortilla crisps up and chars slightly.

This one I cut into quarters, but if I was being true to the Mexican idea then I would do it like a pancake and fold the tortilla in half like a half moon. Tomorrow I might try this- watch this space...

Beautiful Wedges

These are truly spectacular.

This is how you make them:

1. Preheat the oven, around 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Peel and chop floury potatoes in to wedge shapes. (The best way is to cut a rectangleish piece, then slice diagonally to make two triangular pieces. Otherwise known as wedges.)
3. Boil the potato for about ten minutes, until they are almost cooked, but still pretty firm.
4. Drain them using a colander and leave them to steam their moisture out for a bit.
5. While you're waiting chop up some fresh rosemary.
6. Put a good swig of vegetable oil in a baking tray and put it in the oven for a few minutes until it's hot, you can tell by shaking the tray to see how quickly the liquid moves. Another way to tell is to add a drop of water, if it spits and dances it's the perfect temperature. If it tries to burn your eye balls and alarms small animals in the vicinity then it's too hot. Put a little more oil in and turn your heat down. Open the oven door till the light goes on then put it back in and repeat this step. Got it?!
7. The reason for all of these shennanigans is that you want the wedges to start crisping up as soon as they hit the oil - it will make for wedges that are soft on the inside, crispy on the outside. Armadillo...
8. When your oil is a good temperature and your wedges have stopped steaming (or if you're really organised, you can put them in the fridge and take them from cold) then it's time to place them in the baking tray. Don't overlap them; use a few trays. You'll eat more than you think, promise.
9. Sprinkle salt over the wedges, then the rosemary. Leave them to cook in the oven for about seven minutes, enough time for the underside to start to brown, and for the other edges to get nice and dry.
10. Now, get the baking tray out and turn over each wedge, making sure all edges have some oil on them. Leave them cooking nicely for about ten minutes.
11. There are a lot of steps here, it may be because I like to get things out of the oven and fiddle with them. It may be that you would get the same results without following these steps, but I think that it's worth doing. Also, you can eat one each time you get a tray out, just to test them.
12. If you're not like me and would rather leave them you could always make some ketchup. Check out Dara's recipe: http://peasandloveblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/home-made-chips-and-ketchup.html
13. Keep cooking and occasionally shaking them around to prevent sticking until they are lovely and golden. Ideally I would have cooked the ones in the photo a little longer, but there was a room full of hungry people and all the other food was ready. Sometimes a cook must compromise...

Voila! Here are your wedges. YEEEEEESSSSS!!!! Ahh, the humble potato.

Tofu, Mushroom and Olive Scramble

This was an experiment well worth undertaking.

I mashed a block of plain tofu with a fork and sprinkled about a teaspoon each of bouillon and inactive yeast. Next I fried some diced mushrooms in a very small amount of oil, leaving a lid on them to keep the moisture in. When they started to brown I added the tofu mixture and a few halved olives. That's it!

This time I ate it with boiled potatoes, salad and a healthy dollop of hummous. Tomorrow I will have the other half in a pitta bread for my lunch.