i finally made a cover for the outside table.

i keep thinking about the wonderful food we had in lisbon... the day we went to the Gulbenkian, we didnt have to wander very far to find a place to lunch. two places, really. a vegetarian place and an african place. it was a tough choice. a few kind strangers exited the african place and told us it was amazing. and so, we went for it. it was a tiny joint and quite crowded. the daily menu was simple--a meat dish, a fish dish, and a i-cant-remember dish.

i got a spicy tuney fish plus rice and beans dish. the rice and beans were so perfectly spiced and the super spicy fish was fried in dough.

the other day, christian made some leek soup so i decided to make us some baked tuna pockets to go with that.


i used:
1 can tuney fish
handful of fresh parsley
2 large spoons of plain yogurt
a few good shakes of piri piri
pâte à strudel

the dough i used was a bit dry and quite fragile. i put all the ingredients together and divided the tuna mixture up into even lumps and wrapped it in dough. we baked it at 190 for about 20 minutes.

while the dough was quite different than what i had for lunch, it had the right crunch. i was pleased. but mostly, i was excited that the flavor of the fish rang true.

but, for me, a highlight of the week was when the sun came out and we got to eat on the balcony without freezing. the light on the mountains was a gorgeous pink, the trees were happily growing...

and we ate stuffed eggplant with salad and roasted mushrooms. and beer.

first, i cut into the eggplant and sprinkled them with salt. the salt encourages all the water to flee the eggplant, making for a silkier roasted veggie. i let them sit for about a half hour before prepping them with oil and roasting them for about another half an hour at 220 degrees.

once the eggplants cooled, i scooped out their guts.

i combined leeks, chopped sundried tomatoes, and cottage cheese... then added the eggplant guts.

into the oven they went! after about 15 minutes, i added a slice of mozzarella cheese to the top and let them continue baking for about another 15 minutes.

i also roasted mushrooms with garlic and parsley.

deeeee-lish.

the mister also made some bolognaise this weekend (i made some tvp crumbles), and chocolate mousse.


plus he surprised me with some tulips.

but did i mention the chocolate mousse?


chocolate mousse.

It will help us ev'ry day, it will brighten all the way, If we'll keep on the sunny side of life

we have had one of Those Weeks. i guess sometimes that happens when you get back from an awesome trip... you still want to be la-la-la-ing and skipping about but the universe has other ideas. so it goes, so it goes.

while in portugal, we picked up some TVP (at a tiny supermarket, no less, on a shelf next to the cereal. i was super excited as ive not found any here), so i made us some crumbles to use this way and that throughout the week. i made sausage patties, "meat" pie, and this morning, my favourite, cornbread with crumbles and egg.

i started with the following:
1/2 cup tvp
3/4 cup smoked tea* (lapsang souchong), divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup
1/4 cup oats
various spices (i used some rosemary, garlic, thyme, oregano, cinnamon, and lemon zest)
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 caramelized leek
1 apple, grated
3 parboiled fingerling potatoes

first i made some tea.

i added half a cup of piping hot tea to the half cup of tvp and set it aside. i let the tea leaves soak in the quarter cup of water while i mixed everything else.

in a separate bowl, i mixed the dry goods, then added the tvp, and all the other ingredients.


i kept the crumbles in the fridge and used them for this and that. this morning i decided we needed some corniebread for breakfast.

i made my usual recipe:
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp bkg powder
food colouring (this is what makes it corniebread, not cornbread)

into two small individual casseroles, i poured 1/4 cup batter and added the last of the crumbles on top. they were baked at 175 for roughly 20 minutes.

i fried an egg to top it off, and sprinkled on some fresh parsley.

then i stuck the remaining batter in a casserole, swirled the colours, and let it do its thing. corniebread usually takes 35 minutes to bake.

snack time!

now if only i could find some tvp here... it has got to be here! next time i go to the bio shop for gluten, i'll see what they say.... because i can see these crumbles being used for pizza, lasagna, tacos...



*i wanted to add a smokey flavour to the sausagey crumbles, and i thought infused water would do the trick. it did.

a taste of spring when surrounded by winter

these days we are shrouded in grey and white.  we know spring will come but it's not enough--it's been winter since october.  im ready for warmth and light.

yesterday for lunch, i made us a sweet little sauce that was fresh and springy. it was good enough to help us pretend. and today? the sun is out. literally.

1 leek
1 1/4+ cup almond rice milk
a shake of flour
pad of butter
1 handful fresh basil
ground almonds




i sweat the leeks with a little oil and added in some of my favourite mushroom-based veggie chicken. with the kitchen sheers, i minced the basil leaves into the pot, gave it a stir, and moved the lot into a bowl. in the same pot, i made a roux (i used butter) and slowly poured in the almond rice milk. once it started to thicken, i added the goods back in and sprinkled on some ground almonds.

a grind or two of pepper and salt and we had a taste of spring.  

mushroom pie. tasty tasty pie. for dinner.

i love pie. blackberry pie. pumpkin pie. apple pie. lemon pie. π.

and pot pie.

as a child, i loved winter evenings with chicken pot pie for dinner. and lo, i decided to give this canonically comforting dish a vegetarian spin.

i gathered some leek, some potato, some mushrooms, and two kinds of carrot.


i chopped a yellow and orange carrot, a handful of mushrooms, and a leek. i also parboiled some taters. i sauteed the leek and then added the veggies, and some parsley, gave them a whirl, and removed from heat.



then i made the gravy:
roughly 60ish grams butter (our sticks come in packets of 250g--i chopped it in half and half again)
4 tbsp flour
3/4 cup homemade roasted mushroom stock
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup white wine

i made a gravy with the butter and flour and milk, then added the stock and wine. i used some herbs de provence as well.

i combined the gravy and veggies and prepped the crust. to be fair, this was more like a pot tart than a pot pie... ah bon. i rolled out the bottom crust, made sure the oven was warm, and let the gravy cool.

i added the top crust, complete with star cut-outs for a steam vent, and stuck it in the oven.




the pie was baked at 350/190 for roughly 50ish minutes. just perfect for the mister's arrival home. what we should have done was wait for the pie to cool before digging in. but we didnt. we sloppily served it into a bowl and called it dinner. gourmet? nope. but délicieux.