Teff and broad bean burgers and courgette fries in cider batter

I haven't made veggie burgers for a while and thought that I would try new kind of vegan burgers made from teff grain and an interesting dried broad bean crunch that I bought in Finland. That can be substituted by dried, frozen or fresh broad beans of course. Best thing would be puréeing them for the burger mix. I served courgette fries in cider batter and a tahini dip on the side and it was quite a feast altogether. Luckily I could freeze some of the burger patties to be enjoyed later.

The roll is a homemade wheat-spelt-carrot roll, also vegan, but unfortunately I didn't note down the ingredient amounts. I have posted similar roll recipes here before and will surely post similar ones again. So here is my recipe for today's dish.

For the burger patties:

Makes about 10 medium sized patties.

150 g teff grain

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

1 cup broad bean crunch

1 large carrot

2 onions

4 garlic cloves

Smoked paprika

Salt

Ground black pepper

Vegetable oil for frying

For the courgette fries:

3 medium courgettes

1 cup dry cider

½ + 1 cup spelt flour

Pinch of smoked paprika

Vegetable oil for frying

For the tahini dip:

1 lemon's juice

100 g tahini

Sprinkle of salt

Method

Cook the teff in 300 ml water with the vegetable stock powder until done.

Soak the broad bean crunch for about 30 minutes.

Grate the carrots and chop the onion and garlic finely.

Cook the onion and garlic in oil until slightly caramelised.

Mix all burger patty ingredients together once they have cooled and shape burgers from the batter.

Cook the patties in hot oil until golden brown.

Cut the courgettes into fairly thin strips.

Make the batter by whisking one cup of flour with one cup of dry cider and add some smoked paprika.

Roll them in spelt flour and then in the batter and deep fry in hot oil.

Mix the dip ingredients together.

Assemble the burgers. I put a couple of tomato slices and some lettuce into the bun with the patty.

Serve and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Caple Road Cider

Caple Road cider (5,2 %) cooled, straight from the can is my new favourite in the world of ciders. I've been buying this cider for a while now and am not tired of it yet. Now it's also starting to spread into more places and I keep detecting the small yellow cans here and there, most recently in a Nicholson's pub. It's the first canned craft cider made by the Westons orchard, whom I often trust in my cider choices anyway.

The taste is very refined and just suitably dry for my taste. It's oaky, fresh and very appley. There's also a hint of vanilla in the flavour.

Keep your eyes peeled and try this cider, if you'll find it anywhere. Well, obviously online it's quite easy to find at least.

Have you been making acquaintances with any new drinks lately? I would be happy to get recommendations.

Your VegHog

Macaroni cheese with pepper

I made this quick weekday mac 'n' cheese a bit more special by adding a little dry cider, which goes really well with cheesy dishes, and a romano pepper (hiding under the cheese on the photos!). My partner doesn't like creamy sauces, so that's one reason for making more creative macaroni cheese dishes. Luckily he is fine with hard cheeses. So here is my quick recipe that can truly save a weekday.

Ingredients

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 romano pepper

Olive oil

A dash of dry cider

Salt

Pepper

Basil

300 g Cheddar and Mozzarella mix

400 g macaroni

Breadcrumbs

Method

Cook the macaroni al dente in water.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and cut the pepper into small cubes. Start cooking them in olive oil, then add a dash cider and the seasoning and let simmer a while.

Grate the cheese and add half of it into the cidery onion mix and stir until it's a smooth sauce with melted cheese. Keep stirring thoroughly or even use a whisk like I did to keep the sauce smooth.

Mix the cooked macaroni into the sauce and pour it all into an oven dish. Cover it with the other half of the cheese and some breadcrumbs and bake at 200 C for about 10 minutes until the surface is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Spelt, cider and seed rolls

Is there a better way to start a day than with freshly baked healthy rolls? I think not! I made these lovely rolls, but didn't write down the ingredient amounts. I'm very sorry about that, but they were so good that I'm going to bake them soon again and then post the full recipe here.

The main ingredients of the dough were spelt flour, in dry cider soaked oat flakes and sunflower seeds. This mix made very sturdy and filling rolls. They were so great with some butter and cheese.

Here are couple of my older similar recipes: Spelt and cider rolls & Spelt flake and cider rolls 

Enjoy your weekend!

Your VegHog

Twice baked potatoes with leeks, cheese and cider

That's right my friends, the baked potato season is upon us and I often catch myself craving a baked potato with a cheesy filling. These twice baked potatoes with leeks flavoured with cider and oak smoked Cheddar are just a dream in the autumn. Have a look at how I made mine.

Ingredients

3 large baking potatoes

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp olive oil

3 leeks

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp butter

100 ml dry cider

1 tsp vegetable stock powder

Salt

Ground black pepper

100 g oak smoked Cheddar

100 g mature Cheddar

Method

Wash the potatoes and coat them with olive oil and sea salt, then bake at 180C for about one hour or until soft.

Cut the leeks into rings and chop the garlic finely. Cook them in butter for a few minutes. Then add the dry cider and let simmer until the leeks are soft. Season with vegetable stock powder (or cube), salt and black pepper. Add the cheese to the mix.

Once the potatoes are done, cut them in halves and scoop out the insides by leaving the skins. Mix the potato insides with the leeks and cheese and stuff into the potato skins.

Return to the oven for about 10 minutes until the tops get a bit of colour.

Serve with a side salad or like I did here with some tomatoes and baby kale.

Enjoy your weekend!

The VegHog

Roasted miniature new potato and leek bake flavoured with cider

I guess this is how most of my food photos are going to look now that the evenings are getting darker, the only time when I have time to cook on the weekdays. I do apologise for the darkness and hope to make some brighter looking photos on the weekends as well. I hope you'll like the food nevertheless.

I made this autumnal dish ultra savoury, just the way I like it. It's a bake made with roasted miniature new potatoes in a leek, cheese and cider sauce and here's the recipe.

Ingredients

500 g miniature new potatoes

1 tsp vegetable oil

½ tsp smoked paprika

3 baby carrots

3 leeks

3 garlic cloves

10 g butter

1 tsp vegetable stock powder

Salt

Ground black pepper

50 ml dry cider

100 g cheddar and red Leicester mix

Breadcrumbs

Sage

Thyme

Method

Wash the potatoes and roll them in vegetable oil and dust with smoked paprika, then roast them in the oven until done.

Chop the carrots and leeks into thin slices, also chop the garlic finely.

Start cooking the carrots, leeks and garlic in the butter. Cook them for a few minutes until slightly softened. Then add the vegetable stock powder, salt and ground black pepper and also pour the cider in. Let simmer slowly under the lid until all flavours have blended nicely.

Once the potatoes are cooked, mix them into the leeks. Then also add half of the grated cheese into the mix. Put it into an oven dish and cover with the rest of the cheese and the breadcrumbs, sage and thyme.

Bake in the oven until the cheese has nicely melted and golden brown. Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Black Dragon – Traditional Welsh Farmhouse Cider

Today's post is actually about a cider, but I have included some of the nicest travel memories I have from a special country. Tasting this cider transported me back to a happy time, but also made me miss Wales very much. I occasionally get this longing for a holiday in Wales, as I have spent a couple of good ones there. I keep nagging to my partner regularly and out of the blue "When will you take me to Wales again?" or saying "I miss Wales.".

A few years ago (in July 2012) I visited the Llandudno area and Snowdonia and everything I saw took my breath away. I have added a couple of archive photos from that trip here and keep dwelling in nostalgia while I drink this cider that I also drank during that holiday. Just look at those beautiful beasts also known as the Great Orme goats, a Welsh waterfall, a view from the Snowdon mountain and an early evening scene overlooking the Llandudno Bay – one just has to adore these views!

And now to the actual cider. It's the Black Dragon by the Gwynt Y Ddraig The Welsh Cider & Perry Company 6,5 %. The look of the bottle is very attractive and the art work is nice. I do pay attention to that whenever I buy drinks (or food). Initially the drinker is encountered by a very appley taste and the freshness of the fruit is apparent. The cider is very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for its 6,5 %. It's medium dry with spicy notes and a clean aftertaste of apples and minerality. It's a refreshing drink, great to be served at parties.

Now I'm off to look at my Wales photo folder! See you soon!

Your VegHog

Spelt and cider rolls

I have made these cider rolls a few times before, but never posted the recipe. Now I thought that these could also be nice for the Christmas season. How about serving them to your Christmas guests?

I used the organic Black Fox cider for these rolls, but any dry British style cider will work well in this recipe and will add a lovely flavour. I have previously posted a review of the Black Fox cider here. 

And here's now my cider roll recipe, powered by spelt flour, of course. If you don't have any spelt flour, don't hesitate to use wheat flour as it also works in these. I got 10 medium sized rolls with this recipe.

Ingredients

3 dl dry cider

7 dl spelt flour

1 tbsp dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

25 g butter

Method

Melt the butter and set it to side.

Heat the cider lukewarm and dissolve the dry yeast to the cider.

Add the flour, salt and sugar and mix it all into an even dough. You can mix the dough with a spatula as it is quite soft, so no hand kneading needed.

Add the melted butter and mix a little more.

Let the dough rise covered for about one hour at room temperature.

Shape rolls from the dough and let them rise for further 30 minutes on a baking tray.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C.

Brush the surfaces of the rolls with water and bake them for about 10-15 minutes. You can also add various seeds or cheese on the top.

Serve them freshly baked with butter and cheese, and maybe even a glass of cool cider on the side as there will be something left over in the bottle.

Your VegHog

Rose cocktail

This summer heat forced me to make a cocktail that is low on alcohol content (you can also make this fully free of alcohol, if you prefer), as I needed desperate cooling down after the trip to the shops. It's extremely humid today and there might be thunderstorms later on.

I wanted to combine some flavours of the summer in this drink. I have admired the Fentimans lemonades and tonics on the shop shelves with the nice dog logo, and now I finally bought the rose lemonade and used it for this cocktail.

This is all you need for a quick refreshment:

500 ml sweet pear cider

275 ml rose lemonade

1 tbsp rhubarb cordial

Ice cubes

Rose petals

Mix the drink in a large jug and add the ice cubes and rose petals – done! 

Squeeze in one lime's juice for additional punch.

Keep cool!

Your VegHog

Macaroni cheese with a twist

First I wanted to call this dish an English macaroni cheese, but then I realised that I had used Herbes de Provence and crème fraîche, so it probably wouldn't have been appropriate. Then I planned to name it the European macaroni cheese (Italian, English, French components), but that didn't quite sound right. In the end I had to settle for the name Macaroni cheese with a twist. The twist are my English ingredient additions, dry cider and Cornish Cruncher cheese that made the macaroni bake very savoury and special tasting. Have a look how easy the making is.

Ingredients

1 shallot

1 tbsp olive oil

250 g macaroni

200 g Cornish Cruncher cheese

150 ml dry cider (Black Fox)

1 tsp Herbes de Provence

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp sea salt

2 tbsp crème fraîche

50 g breadcrumbs (I used lemon and pepper breadcrumbs)

Method

Chop the shallot finely and cook in olive oil at moderate heat until soft. In the meanwhile also cook the macaroni in salt water. Leave them a bit more al dente than usual as they will keep cooking in the oven.

Grate the cheese. Add the herbs, black pepper and sea salt to the shallots and then pour the cider in. Add 2/3 of the cheese and the crème fraîche. Let cook for a few minutes more and then also mix the macaroni in.

Place the mix into ramekins or a large oven dish. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and the breadcrumbs on the top and bake at 180C for about 15 minutes.

Serve with a salad and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Spelt and carrot mini rolls

Happy July everyone! It's a really nice day here, so the month seems to start well. I'm only stuck indoors now waiting for a delivery. Hopefully it arrives soon so that I can go out a bit.

I made these spelt and carrot mini rolls after I harvested some of my small and funny looking purple carrots and thought they would be perfect in some rolls. The spots of the purple colour look quite funny on the rolls, but of course also regular carrots can be used for this recipe. Due to their smaller size, these are nice to be snacked with bits of cheese or just on their own. I have already posted a similar recipe, my spelt flake and cider rolls, but somehow I thought that these were possibly nicer. I'll let you be the judge of that, if you make both rolls.

This is the recipe for about 20 spelt and carrot mini rolls.

Ingredients

1 carrot

300 ml dry cider (I used organic Black Fox cider)

2 tbsp dry yeast

2 dl spelt flakes + a few more for sprinkling on the top

5 dl spelt flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

50 g butter

Method

Grate the carrot. Warm the cider lukewarm and add the yeast, spelt flakes and grated carrot in there. Melt the butter and mix the spelt flour, sugar and salt.

Combine all the ingredients, knead to a dough and let it rise for one hour. It's perfectly sufficient to knead just with a spatula, you don't necessarily have to knead by hand.

Then shape small rolls from the dough and place them on a baking tray. Sprinkle some more spelt flakes on the top and let them rise for further 30 minutes under a teatowel.

Bake the rolls at 200C for about 15-20 minutes until fully baked. Serve with cheese, butter or soft cheese when they are still warm.

Your VegHog

Spelt flake and cider rolls

I don't know, if anybody else is as crazy about spelt as I am, because I don't see that many recipes made with spelt products. However, you can trust that I will continue posting spelt recipes and this one is just full of spelt! These rolls are high in fibre and iron and have a cider twist to the flavour. I recently purchased organic spelt porridge flakes in bulk, which I used for this recipe. At the moment they ensure most of my breakfasts in porridge form, but they are also very suitable for baking.

This recipe makes about 10 small hearty spelt rolls with added cider power.

300 ml dry cider

50 g butter

2 tbsp dry yeast

2 dl spelt flakes

5 dl spelt flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Warm the cider lukewarm and add the yeast and the spelt flakes in there.

Mix the dry ingredients and melt the butter.

Combine all the ingredients and knead to a dough and let it rise for one hour.

Then shape rolls from the dough and place them on a baking tray. Sprinkle some more spelt flakes on the top and let rise for further 30 minutes under a teatowel.

Bake the rolls at 200C for about 15 minutes until fully baked. Serve when they are still slightly warm.

Your VegHog

Orchard Pig ciders

I have been tasting the Orchard Pig ciders from Somerset and they are fast becoming my favourites, not alone because of the cute design on the bottles. I think I'll use these ciders soon for cooking as well. 

Here are some tasting notes from three different Orchard Pig ciders.

Reveller 4,5%

• Medium sparkling cider
• Light, clear and refreshing
• A fine drink for a hot day
• “A riotous celebration of apples”, says the Orchard Pig itself and I agree
  

Truffler 6,0%

• Dry sparkling cider
• Earthy and woody notes in the scent
• Background flavour is like an earthy apple crumble with vanilla

Charmer 6,0%

• Medium sparkling cider
• Taste of fresh apples
• Noticeable carbonation
• Light nuttiness
• A slight maple character
• A charming little cider

Follow The Pig!

Black Fox Cider

Good morning! What a suitable time for a cider review... Anyway today I want to introduce to you the organic Black Fox Cider by Dunkertons, which is one of my main favourites among the British ciders.

In my opinion this cider tastes like a very traditional English cider should taste like. It's dry but fruity and it has a certain bitterness to it. There is a freshness of apples with light spicy notes and a fruitiness that runs through without being too sweet. The light crispy finish completes the package.

But beware, with its 7% this cider also makes you very sneakily drunk!

Happy Sunday!

Your VegHog