Category Archives: vegan

Sourdough bagels

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I’ve long made bagels and they are a thing of beauty and deliciousness. I have made sourdough ones but not with any regularity. But recently I started making them again. They take a bit more time, in that they need to be left to rise in their own sweet time, far more than yeasted bagels. I rushed them last week and they were dense – still delicious but not so airy and light.

I tend to shape these into little round rolls first and then puncture a hole with a wood spoon handle. I tend to make these with a smaller hole than my yeasted bagels. Who knows why.

Unlike yeasted bagels these can also be left to prove for 48 hours in the fridge (maybe even longer but I’ve never left them that long), so if there aren’t that many of us, I tend to cook a batch up in two lots so we have fresh bagels for two days running. I can’t do that with yeasted bagels as they really have to be cooked the day after making (after an overnight prove in the fridge, ie they don’t ‘last’ that long in the proving stage).

If you want to make them totally vegan then don’t egg wash them.

You can of course use 500g of just white flour, or mix in a bit of wholemeal. I’m always looking for a more gut-friendly diversity so I add Vanessa Kimbell’s Diversity XXX flour. TBH these days I add 10-15% of it into almost all my bakes but here I use 20% (100g of 500g is 20% isn’t it? I failed maths..)

I think this recipe is, at least in part, from Edd Kimber but I adapted it a while ago. (I love Edd.)

What you need:

185g active sourdough starter
250g warm water
1 tbsp of sugar or barley malt syrup
1 tsp of fine sea salt
400g strong white bread flour
100g Diversity XXX flour

I mix everything together in my Kenwood Chef food mixer with the dough hook. I leave it on low for ten minutes. Then I turn the dough out onto an oiled surface, cover it with a bowl and leave it for an hour. After an hour I give it a gentle knead for ten seconds, leave it for an hour and then knead it again for ten seconds. If your house is very cold you might want to do this one more time. I kinda go on dough-feel (and no I’m not very good at it either).

When you’re ready to shape the bagels, when the dough feels lighter and a little more yielding, then cut it into 6/8/10 depending on how many you want to make (this makes eight regular sized bagels for me). I roll into little balls using my hands, then make a hole with the handle of a wooden spoon, stretching the hole out a little.

Place on a parchment lined tray.

I now leave this out, covered with a tea towel, for about another hour before putting them in the fridge overnight. I also think they benefit from coming up to room temperature after taking them out of the fridge but I never have time to do this so I put them straight away into the boil process.

Boiling and baking

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Some people put things in the water to make them more of a bagel (I don’t know what but stuff that makes it apparently taste more bagel-y) I can never be bothered. When the water is boiling I plop two in there – if you can get more in without them hurtling into each other than do. I give them a minute or two until they float and puff up a little, and turn them with a slotted spoon, another minute or two, then take them out and rest them on a tea towel. When all are done put them back on the parchment lined tray, brush with beaten egg if you want and scatter with seeds if you want and cook at 220C for 14/15 minutes. Check after 12.

These are really very good.

Oat Milk Iced Coffee

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I’m always a little embarrassed to post a ‘recipe’ that’s basically just an idea. But tbh I’ve had some of my best tips from people posting mere ideas…

Since I stopped eating sugar and dairy (and soya, nightshades, meat and probably something else I’ve forgotten) to help with my health I’ve felt so much better. But it’d be a lie to say it hasn’t had its challenges. We are a family who loves our coffee and especially in the hot months, our iced coffees.

I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before but actually half a glass of oat milk (or plant milk of your choice), half a glass of ice, and an espresso or two makes an excellent cold drink that’s my new favourite way to drink coffee atm.

However, it seems to challenge baristas when I go out.

“Do you have oat milk?” I ask. “Yes they say”.
“Do you have ice?” I ask. “Yes,” they say.”

“Then could I have half a glass of oatmilk, some ice and an espresso?”

You’d be amazed how often the answer to this is ‘no’. (And listen, my parents ran a cafe for years and I worked there so I know what it’s like to work as a barista.)

Pret can’t seem to handle it and insist on giving me an Americano instead (which alters all the proportions). The coffee bar at my otherwise amazing military club can’t get their heads around it, although just a few feet away the staff at the lounge bar can mak a beautiful drink for me. The waiter at Ottolenghi got it and made it for me himself.

But most of the time I just make it for myself at home, thus saving myself £££.

If you like sweet drinks this isn’t for you. But if you like all the component ingredients you’ll love this. And if you’ve been doing this yourself for years then: good for you. Why didn’t you tell me?

Oat milk for smoothies

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I wrote about making almond milk some years ago, and whilst I love almond milk, it’s expensive. We drink a lot of smoothies in our house, and I usually add some sort of non-dairy milk to them. Not because I don’t have dairy – I do, and how! – but I just prefer nut/oak milks in my smoothies; so, in an attempt to make something cheaper,  and to avoid shop-bought ‘mylks’ I tried making my own oat milk. Plenty of people do and it’s so simple I urge you to give it a try.

The basics is one part oat flakes to four parts water, and then, depending on taste and how much you make you can add some vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, or a date for a bit of sweetness. If you use one cup as the measurement, I use a teaspoon of vanilla extract, one date, half a teaspoon of salt. So you can increase or decrease those measurements to suit the quantity you make. But, increasingly I make it using just oats and water. I make it about 1L at a time (I make mine quite thick and then dilute with water at point of making) so it’s pretty fresh. It keeps for a few days in the fridge. It might need a shake/stir before using.

Take your one part of oats (say one cup, in fact I use my 1/3rd cup measurement as that is what works for my bottle), add four parts water, blend for 30-60seconds depending on your blender. You can strain it in through a fine cloth (I do) or in fact just use as is. I don’t find there’s much left behind in the cloth but I do have a ‘super blender’, which basically turns oats to dust.

I felt so disproportionately pleased with myself for saving money making this, I went out and bought a fancy bottle to put it in, thereby completely wiping out this week’s savings.  But I think the presentation is important…

 

Home made baked beans

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I’m not overly a fan of baked beans, but I do love these. Please note the first recipe is for dried beans, which are much cheaper using slow/pressure cooker. Below that is a recipe for ready-cooked beans. You can use haricot or cannellini or small white beans.

This is what you need

1 onion, sliced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

500g small white beans, rinsed and picked over (I’m not sure what for, mine were all fine).

1 litre of water

125ml strong black coffee (I used a big tablespoon of instant espresso powder which I keep for making coffee cakes, dissolved in 125ml of hot water)

250ml passata

55g-110g dark brown sugar (100g is what the recipe calls for but we all find it a bit sweet now so do experiment. I’ve made it with half this and will probably reduce further)

1 tablespoon of English mustard

1 tablespoon of black treacle

half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce

1 and a half teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons of white or cider vinegar (for the very end, I have left it out and tbh it was fine)

What you do

If you have a pressure/slow cooker which allows you to saute, put this function on, heat up the oil then add the onion and cook until soft – about five mins. If yours doesn’t have this function do this bit on the stove top in a frying pan/saucepan.

When soft, add the garlic and cook for a minute.

Now, either add the rest of the ingredients, minus the vinegar to the pot of your pressure/slow cooker, or now tip the onions/garlic into your pressure/slow cooker and then add the rest of the ingredients (minus the vinegar).

Select pressure cook 80kPa, natural steam release and cook for 35-40 mins or select slow cooker mode for 10-12 hours on low.

When time is up, add the vinegar and you need to reduce the sauce right down until it’s syrupy – either in the pressure/slow cooker if you have a reduce function or decant into a large sauce pan and do it the traditional way. Mine took 20 mins.

Update January 2021. I have since made these with a squirt of Liquid Smoke from Sous Chef which was amazing. I’ve upped the time to 35-40 mins as I really don’t think 30-35 was enough time!

Making using ready cooked beans

It’s not easy to find dried beans where I live so I now make this recipe using these beans. They are not cheap but it’s what I use and it makes a vat of baked beans and the beans are very fine.

Jar of 700g of ready cooked white beans (I use these), use all the liquer in the jar as well. You can of course use beans in tins too!

1 onion, sliced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

100ml strong black coffee (I used a big tablespoon of instant espresso powder which I keep for making coffee cakes, dissolved in 125ml of hot water)

250ml passata

80g dark brown sugar (you can alter to taste this is what I use)

1 tablespoon of English mustard

1 tablespoon of black treacle

half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce

1 and a half teaspoons of salt

1.5 tablespoon of white or cider vinegar (you put this in at the very end, but I often forget it and it’s really fine!)

Use a slow cooker or a regular big pot on the hob. Gently soften the onion in the olive oil, then add the garlic, then tip everything else in – not the vinegar – including all the thick liquid that comes with your beans.  Give everything a good stir and either put in the slow cooker on low for 2 hrs or so or on a low hob. I’m sure they’d be fine after an hour, too. Reduce if you like it really thick but I find this is perfect. 

Here’s a 2024 picture, served with home made seeded sourdough.