Nut-ella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh...

After another night of snow showers today is yet another Snow Day. I have been to work this week, honest! This inturn lead to a slight Nutella crisis. Today is officially World Nutella Day and it is paramount I eat Nutella on this important day. World Nutella Day this year is being hosted by Sarah from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso.

Now, usually I have always have jar of the sweet chocolatiness in the cupboard for those spoon-straight-in-the-jar emergencies but after making Nutella & Peanut Butter Brownies for Hubby's workmates I forgot to pick up a jar. Snowed in and a 2 hour walk for Nutella I decided to see if it is possible to make Nutella from scratch. Lo and behold Su Good Sweets came to my rescue.

Now, the major difference between Nutella and my version was that I didn't have any hazelnuts in, so instead used cashew nuts and almonds. I also used rapeseed oil as it has a pleasant nutty taste. Although I think I may have nearly killed my food processor in the making of this nutty chocolate butter it was worth it. It's not quite a smooth as tradition Nutella, but just as delicious. It was interesting watching the nuts turn from the whole nuts into a paste. My home-made Nutella certainly helped the with Nutella craving that was going to go unsatisfied otherwise. I'd be interested to try it again with hazelnuts.

Vegan & Gluten-Free Mince Pies

We are entering one of the dreaded weeks for people who work in education. As one colleague calls is "Nativity & Glitter Week". The kids are on a high, nothing gets done, Joseph gets stage fright, a shepherd will pick his nose then eat it, the recorders are as squeaky as ever and Mary suddenly discovers a penchant for sucking her toes...mid nativity.

Rather than giving presents out to fellow workmates I usually make a batch of festive goodies. As it was Xmas and not all my workmates can eat my eccles mince pies, I decided to have a go at making vegan, wheat-free mince pies. Not only the pastry had to be vegan, but also the mincemeat. It just so happened that the brand of cider & rum I used in the suet-free mincemeat I made a few weeks back was also vegan. This was a new departure in baking for me. Before now the only vegan baking I have ever had the courage to attempt is flapjacks.

The first task was to find a gluten free flour alternative. Sainsburys came to the rescue when I noticed they sold Dove's Farm Gluten Free Flour Blend. I was anticipating me having to make my own flour blend. It has a slightly different texture to conventional plain flour, in a kind of way squeakier. The butter replacement was easy, Pure Sunflower Spread. I've used it in cooking before with no problems and it is readily available.

One tip I picked up while reading around about using gluten free flour is that at first it looks gloopy, resist the urge to add more flour because once it has rested for a bit the flour absorbs the liquid and it magically turns into the right consistency.

I have to admit these mince pies were a triumph. I don't know why I had been so scared about them. The pastry was perfect and my non-vegan friends also really enjoyed them. I'll certainly be making this pastry again.

Vegan & Gluten-Free mince pies
Makes 12

200g Gluten-free plain flour
125g Vegan spread/butter substitute
1 tbsp icing sugar
4 tbsp orange juice
200g mincemeat Suet-free mincemeat (just make sure you use vegan cider. All rums are considered vegan)

1) Rub the spread into the flour until you have the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Stir in icing sugar, then orange juice and combine until you have a soft dough. Don't worry if it looks too wet at this stage.

2) Press the dough into a thickened disk shape, cover in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 min.

3) Preheat oven to 180oc. Roll out pastry until it is about 4mm thick. Using a 9cm biscuit cutter, cut out rounds and press gently into a regular cupcake tray. Fill each pie with around 1 dsp of mincemeat.

4) Using the remaining pastry cut out shapes and place on top of the mincemeat. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 min, until pastry is golden. Allow the pies to cool in the tin for a short while before placing on a wire rack.

3-Bean Chilli

Poor Hubby, with a fridgeful of veg and lots of recipes I wanted to try I've inflicted a plethora of veggie dishes on him. First vegetable pie then next bean chilli. The familiar smell of chilli greeted him as he came from the front door and you could see his face literally drop when he noticed it was missing his favourite ingredient, meat. Without the soured cream it's vegan. Although it is a veggie dish the beans help to make it meaty (according to Hubby) I've promised him some proper meaty dishes for the rest of the week!

The recipe is cross between my chilli con carne recipe and a bean casserole recipe given to me by the lovely Fi on a foodie forum.

3-Bean Chilli
serves 3-4

1 onion, sliced
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 carrots, sliced
2 tins chopped tomatoes
100ml white wine
450ml vegetable stock
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 can borlotti beans
1 can cannellini beans
1/2 can kidney beans
salt & pepper

1) Fry onions for until they are beginning to soften in a small amount of olive oil, then add the garlic and carrots. Continue to cook for 3 minutes.

2) Add the wine and reduce for a few minutes. Add stock, spices, chilli. Simmer for 35 min, or until sauce has thickened. Add all the beans and seasoning. Simmer for a further 8 minutes.

Curry Monday - Tarka Dhal

It's amazing how fast Curry Monday comes around! Due to us being away at the weekend I haven't had the chance to get to the butchers so a Veggie curry was called for. A quick flick through my cookbooks and I found Tarka Dhal. A Dhal is a lentil based curry that is one of the most popular dishes in India and Tarka relates to the process in which the curry is seasoned with spiced oil at the end. It turned out to be the perfect opportunity to try out some of the spices I picked up at Rafi's Spice Box.

It can be eaten as an accompaniment to a dry curry or on its own. We had it with just naan bread and I can now understand why it is described as the ultimate comfort food. It was gorgeous and filling. Also a great standby dish as it uses ingredients that are always available in our house. Even "I don't do veggie food" Hubby enjoyed it.

Tarka Dhal
Serves 2

125g red split lentils (Masoor Dhal)
500ml hot water
1/2 can (200g) chopped tomatoes
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp root ginger, grated
2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp sunflower oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/2 cumin seeds

1) Soak lentils in boiling water for 10 min then drain. Place in a saucepan, add hot water and simmer for 20 min. Drain again, put back in saucepan then blitz lentils until you have a puree.

2) Stir in tomatoes, turmeric, ginger, coiander and green chilli. Simmer gently.

3) In a non-stick frying pan, heat the sunflower oil then add mustard seeds, garlic, chilli flakes and cumin. Fry for 1 min. Pour the dhal into the frying pan with the tarka, stir then serve.

Vegan Flapjacks

Things have been rough in work recently and we all can't wait for half term, bring on Thursday. To help cheer everyone up I've had a bit of a baking marathon today. First to be made was a batch of vegan flapjacks. One of my workmates is vegan and I didn't want her to feel left out.

I have to admit I feel confident with vegetarian cooking, but not vegan. I'm always worried about putting in an ingredient that isn't vegan. A few months back I nearly made a huge booboo when in a fleeting moment I thought of putting honey in a vegan dish, luckily I clicked before putting it in! I decided vegan flapjacks was the fail safe option. Of course if you wanted to make an non-vegan version just replace the soya spread with butter.

I've entered these flapjacks into Mansi's Weekend Breakfast Blogging event.

Vegan Flapjacks
Makes 8

170g soya margarine
170g golden caster sugar
225g muesli base mix or rolled oats
handful of sultanas

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. In a saucepan melt soya margarine. Take off the heat then stir in the remaining ingredients.

2) Pour into a lined 8inch square tin. Flatten with the back of a metal spoon.

3) Bake for 25 min until golden. Slice as soon as it is out of the oven.