Dried Apricots and Pumpkin Seeds Flapjacks

When I was working I would often make muffins or flapjacks for the working week ahead.  These days I make them for the weekend, should we find ourselves venturing outside of home territory.  We are much more organised and will now make a flask of coffee and take small tub of home bakes.  This is our frugal and thrifty way of saving pennies and not spending pounds on a High Street latte, espresso or muffin. 

These flapjacks are made with dried apricots and pumpkin seeds, but you can easily make it with sultanas, raisins, sunflower and sesame seeds, as well as chopped nuts, almonds would be great.

 So let us see where this weekend takes us ....weather dependent of course.

Apricot and Pumpkin Seeds Flapjacks
Makes 8
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar
75g golden syrup
200g porridge oats
150g dried apricots, chopped
100g pumpkin  seeds
Method Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan on a low heat. Then stir in the oats, apricots and pumpkin seeds, and combine thoroughly.
Spread and flatten the mixture into a lined baking tray. 
Bake at gas mark 3 for 30 minutes, until golden brown at the edges. 
Leave to cool completely in the tin, then cut into squares with a sharp knife and turn out. 

Black-Eyed Bean and Vegetable Crumble

As soon as many people hear the word 'crumble' they understandably associate it with the sweet crumble, but here is a savoury crumble made with oats and seeds. 

Beneath this savoury, seedy and oaty crumbly topping you will find black-eyed beans and chunks of vegetables.  The vegetables of course can vary from season to season, but my question to you is 'When do you find yourself really wanting to eat a crumble: sweet or savory?!'  If you are like me, then you answer will be 'when the weather turns dark and you want warmth and comfort'.  Savoury vegetable crumbles are not a new idea, they have been around for yonky years in the Britain.  In fact this recipe is adapted from one of my 1980s second hand skinny cookbooks.  No photographs in it, but plenty of homely grub and illustrations: of people either eating or cooking.

I admit the flavours here are a bit on the tame side, but this way you do appreciate the flavours and bite of the vegetables more.  I liked the topping,  not only  because it was soft and crumbly (obviously), but also crunchy from the seeds.  In the future I hope to spice up this crumble with a little cumin, coriander and chilli, but right now it was good as it was.  I am sharing this rather thrifty recipe with Simple LivesThursday #64 hosted by Gnowfglins.

 
Black eye bean and Vegetable Crumble.
Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
400g tinned black-eyed beans, drained, rinsed and set aside
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large leek, sliced
½ swede, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon thyme
300ml vegetable stock
2 tablespoon Tamari or soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
For the crumble topping
110 g rolled oats
50g plain flour
50g sunflower or pumpkin seeds
¼ teaspoon sea salt
75g butter

Method
Heat the vegetable oil and sauté the onion until soft, then add the garlic, leek, carrots and swede and thyme ad sauté for about 5 minutes.  Then stir in the carrots and pour in the stock , tamari, beans and season to taste. 
Simmer until the vegetables are tender.  Tip into a baking tray.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
Now make the crumble topping.

Now make the crumble topping
Mix the oats, flour, seeds and salt in a bowl and rub in the butter.  Scatter over the beans and vegetable mixture and bake for 30 – 40 minutes.  Serve with gravy.  Adapted from The Wharf Street Vegetarian Cafe Cookbook by Jill Gibbon.

3 Seeds and Root Tartlets

Happy New Year to you all.
I don't know if it is age or just experience, but instead of joining the masses in the snowy cold to welcome the New Year in with noise and fireworks, we decided to stay snug in the warmth of our small flat and celebrate simply together.

On a number of fellow blogger sites I have come across elegantly decorated cakes, 'sweet mince pies' and 'vegetable pies' with stars galore. So in a similar fashion, I decided to made these a little special too, it was New Years eve after all.
The filling is mildly spiced made with carrots, parsnips and seeds: pumpkin, sunflower and sesame. We had these with all our own home-grown potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Really satisfying.
Whoops, in the oven a few minutes too long...but it didn't harm the taste at all.

The original recipe is for a Christmas Roast, but I adapted it a little as I did not have all the ingredients, plus one of the ingredients required: courgettes are out of season, so I replaced them with parsnips. I also made individual tartlets using shop bought puff pastry. I hope Rachel Demuth approves.

3 Seeds and Root Tartlets

Serves 8 - 10

Ingredients

100g green lentils

2 bay leaves

500ml stock made with 1 teaspoon vegetable stock

200g parsnips, peeled and grated

200g carrots, peeled and grated

1 onion, finely sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder

1/2 ginger powder
80g rolled oats
100g Brazil nuts, coarsely chopped
50g pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
50g sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
50g sesame seeds, lightly toasted
2 tablespoons Tamari

1 tablespoon tomato puree
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Puff pastry

Method

Pre-heat the oven to Gas 4.

Wash the lentils, put them in a small saucepan with the stock and bay leaves. Bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are tender, drain, remove the bay leaves and set aside.

Fry the onion in the olive oil until soft, add the garlic, spices and fry for 2 minutes. Add the grated vegetables, rolled oats, tomato puree and Tamari and sauté until soft, but still with some bite. Combine the cooked vegetables, lentils, Brazil nuts, two thirds of the toasted seeds. Season well with salt and pepper.

Here you can use the puff pastry as I did as tartlet cases, sprinkle with the remaining seeds and cook for 25 minutes until golden; Or you can simply make this in a loaf tin. In which case you should line the loaf tin with baking parchment paper, sprinkle in the remaining seeds into the tin, then spoon on the mixture. Press down firmly and bake on the middle shelf for 45 minutes or until firm. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out. Serve with gravy.

Adapted from my Christmas present Greens World Cookbook.

Roasted cauliflower with dukkah

This is the only image I have of a cauliflower snowball that I grew last year. I was so proud of it, it was the only one that I managed to harvest before it started to bolt. Is that the right term?Anyway, I still have some seeds left over from last year, so intend to grow them again, along with Igloo. Its a good small variety for a small family; or two hungry people.
Dukkah which originated in ancient Egypt is a dry dip made with a mixture of nuts and spices. I often make more than I need, as it is hard to reduce the quantities in this recipe. I tend to use dukkah mainly for snacks such as dipping crusty bread, first in good olive oil and then in dukkah. Very moreish. I have also used it over roasted potatoes and wedges.

Here I have used it to spice up a bland cauliflower. I simply parboiled the cauliflower florets till they were al dente, drained them and then lightly coated them with olive oil and the dukkah and then baked it in the oven till golden.

Dukkah (makes about 2 cups)
Ingredients
1/2 cup of each: sesame seeds; sunflower seeds; and pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup of each: cumin seeds; and coriander seeds
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 tablespoon of paprika or to taste
Method
Heat the oven to gas mark 6.

First put the sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds into roast for 5 minutes, then add the cumin and coriander seeds and roast for a further 5 minutes, or until you can smell the aromas. Keep an eye on the oven, you don't want to overdo it.

Leave to cool, then grind with salt, paprika in a food processor. You may have to do this in batches. Thew final mixture should be grainy, not an oily powder.

Store in an airtight kilner jar in a cool cupboard. It should last up to three months.

Seedy Curly Kale Crisps

About a year ago, I came across a recipe on youtube for Curly Kale crisps. How could I resist , especially as I had a load of kale growing at my plot, and guess what they met my expectations, they were really moreish. Try it yourself.

All you have to do is remove the hard stalks, lightly coat the kale in olive oil and seasoning and lay them apart on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven, middle shelf for about 8 minutes.

Keep a close eye on the kale as it takes only a minute or so from being delightfully crispy to charred burnt.

I could not help tinkering with them just a little bit more and added some roasted sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds lightly seasoned with tamari.