PPN Baby pasta and adult stew

Finally Sylvia is willing to try more food, though some of it still falls from her mouth to the ground in dislike (and others land her in the emergency dept of the Royal Children's Hospital - nothing a bit of play and sleep couldn't fix - but that is another story). I tried buckwheat pasta a while back and she wasn’t keen. But last weekend she tasted her first wheat pasta and loved it. Her food inspired me in making a stew for our own dinner.

I still expect Sylvia to spit out any new food. I had decided to serve the pasta with pumpkin, which she likes, rather than tomato sauce, which she has never tried. I am trying to introduce her to dairy so decided some ricotta would help her get used to creamy food but I also added a sweetener (literally) in the guise of apple puree. To my surprise she lapped it up, though on the first night I had a good laugh when she would only eat it from E if he fed her by hand rather than using a spoon.

When putting away her baby pasta, I found some macaroni noodles at the back of the pantry. I had a bunch of unused celery that I had bought on special in a whimsical moment. I sometimes want to buy celery but don’t know how to use it as I generally use it frequently but not in large proportions. It is rarely the star of any dishes I make. I decided to use it up in a minestrone-style stew. The results were as pleasing as Sylvia eating her dinner. The celery didn’t overwhelm the stew but it added to the flavour.

I wasn’t going to blog this recipe as it is one of my lazy sorts of meals that I just throw in what is about. Hence my lack of photos. However, I often feel stuck for ideas about using up celery and this was such a good way to use it up that I thought I should have it here to remind me next time I see it on special.

Above is a gratuituous photo of Sylvia at play in the garden. She seems to like food off the floor best of all and I suspect if I told her to just eat the dirt out of the pots she would! I am sending the stew to Ruth of Once Upon a Feast who is hosting this week’s Presto Pasta Night (No. 149).

Sylvia’s first pasta
serves 3 meals to an 11 month old

• 1 handful of soup pasta or baby pasta (about ¼ - ½ cup)
• 100g pumpkin, diced small
• 2 dessertspoons of ricotta
• 1-2 dessertspoons of apple puree
• 3 basil leaves, finely chopped

Cook pumpkin and pasta in boiling water for 10-15 minutes until soft. Drain but reserve water in case you need to thin sauce. Stir in ricotta, apple puree and basil. Add a little water to get a sauce consistency.

Vegetable, lentil and pasta stew
serves 6

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bunch of celery, chopped
  
• 4 medium carrots, chopped
  
• 2 medium potatoes, chopped
  
• 700ml jar of passata or chopped tomatoes (keep jar to measure water)
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp stock powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp bush herb mixture or dried mixed herbs
• 300g pumpkin, diced
• ½ cup red lentils
• 2 medium zucchini chopped
• 250g macaroni noodles
• 2 dessertspoons of ricotta
• handful basil chopped
  

Heat olive oil in a stockpot. Add onion, celery, carrot and potatoes and cook over a medium low heat for 15-20 minutes until they start to soften. Add the passata, garlic, stock powder, cayenne and herbs. Once you have emptied passata into the pot, fill the jar with water and add to pot. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the carrot and celery is soft. Add the pumpkin, red lentils, zucchini, and macaroni. Again, fill your passata jar with water and add to pot. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until pasta and lentils are cooked and pumpkin is soft. Stir in ricotta. Sprinkle with basil to serve.

On the stereo:
Wonderland soundtrack: Michael Nyman

Dipping into summer eating

Summer brings a different way of eating. Hot weather calls for salads, stovetop meals and dips. Eating out during the day is best at a sunlit restaurant with good air conditioning. I can't stand being stuck in the dark on a summer's day. If I can't go outside I want to at least be able to see the sun. So today I will give you a taste of summer with a tale that starts with buying some delicious sourdough bread and ends with me eating it topped with homemade chutney and dip.

I went to Wholefoods in Lygon St, East Brunswick last week. It is a rare treat that I get to go there as often it depends on traffic, parking and how awake Sylvia is. Wholefoods is not cheap but it offers so many wonderful foods that I can't buy elsewhere, which in turn are full of exciting possibilities. (I can't wait to try the vegan marshmallow mix!)

After a relaxing shopping experience there with Sylvia asleep in the pram, I didn't want to wake her by putting her in the car. Instead I had a walk and ended up at Vege2Go. I had a lovely pumpkin, spinach and tofu pastie. As I sat there I noticed the child-friendly corner with a highchair and toys. I thought it would be a great place for taking kids.

Child-friendly places were on my mind as I had said I would choose a place to go with my mum, my sister Chris and her baby Dash. I also was considering CERES but finally remembered Cooper in a highchair at Hellenic Republic and realised it was the perfect place for us to go. Not only is it a place that caters for all our dietary requirements with superb food but the large windows along one wall ensure the place is flooded with sunlight.

We had fun with both Sylvia and Dash being of an age where they want to grab anything in sight. So the table had two large clear spaces in front of them. We did well in keeping the food away from the babies until Dash grabbed the clay dish with the remains of our chips and tipped them on the floor. What a waste of good Hellenic Republic chips! Sylvia was kept occupied with Dash's mobile phone.

We had a wonderful meal there. Lots of little dishes of food that we loved and I have written about before. Most memorable were the Greek donuts in honey. Both my mum and Chris decided they would be good and not have any dessert but these donuts had been so good at my last visit that I ordered a bowl. Of course mum and Chris had to have a taste and we left singing their praises.

After lunch, we went back to our place where Dash and Sylvia were able to play together. I was glad to have mum here because I wanted her advice. E had found a beetroot and chutney recipe in the Daily Mail newspaper that he had purchased when we left Scotland in December. He cut it out for me and I promised to try it.

I bought the beetroots. Sylvia had a lovely time playing with them before I put them in the fridge. It was only when I got them out that I saw the little rascal had tried to take a bite out of one. (Can you spot her bite in the above photo?) I didn't have enough so had to scale back the recipe. I have done this before so wasn't too concerned. However the recipe said to cook it for an hour til it thickened. After two hours it didn't look like it had thickened and so I put it in the fridge and wondered if it would be useable. Hence I was glad to seek my mum's advice. She liked it and took away a jarful. This gave me a little confidence in it.

After they left I decided I needed to make dip. I had made a lovely creamy tomato dip about a week before that and it had just run out. It was made up of bits and pieces of leftover dairy. I had intended to make an artichoke dip but somehow it morphed into a tomato dip that E and I enjoyed.

If I don't have dip I often am lazy and just eat peanut butter on toast. So it made sense to make Clotilde's bean dip with peanut butter in it. A healthier way to eat peanut butter! I had used up all my sundried tomatoes in the tomato dip but had some chives leftover. So I used those instead. It was quite a thick dip, and could have been made a bit more spreadable with some water, but I enjoyed it as it came. I have found that if dips are too moist they have water pooling in them if left in the fridge too long. There were no such problems with this one.

And it tasted great. I was now reconciled to the beetroot chutney and pleased with my new bean dip. After the wonderful meal at Hellenic Republic I decided a simple dinner was in order. You can see the salad I served with the chutney and dip at the top of this post. It was wonderful. The beetroot and orange chutney was particularly good with salad as it was like a posh tinned pickled beetroot.

I also discovered that the dip and beetroot went well together on the bread I had bought at Wholefoods the previous day. I had been so busy I had forgotten about it and was pleased to find it was still soft with large chunks of olives in it. Just what I need to get me though the heat of summer!

Creamy Tomato Dip
makes about 2 cups

- 125g firm ricotta
- 125g low fat cream cheese
- 70g feta
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup semi sundried tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- ¼ cup chopped chives

Blend ricotta, cream cheese, feta, tomato paste and semi-sundried tomatoes in food processor till smooth. Transfer to a small mixing bowl. Mix in basil and chives. Keeps in fridge for about a week.

White Bean and Nut Butter Dip
Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini
makes about 1 cup

- 400 g tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 dsstsp peanut butter
- 1 dsstsp sesame butter (a.k.a. tahini or tahina)
- the juice of a lime
- 1 tbsp chives
- 2 splashes of Worcestershire sauce
- a good dash each of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika

In a food processor, combine the white beans with the nut butters, spices and the lime juice. Blend until smooth and add a little water if it is too thick. Add the Worcestershire sauce and blend. Tip into a small bowl and stir in the chives. Check seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Beetroot and orange chutney
Adapted from the Daily Mail newspaper, 10 Dec 2009
makes about 4 medium jars

- 850g beetroot, peeled and diced
- zest and juice of 2 oranges
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 1 large royal gala apple
- 400g cider vinegar
- 300g raw sugar
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds (I think they were)
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp salt

Place all ingredients in large saucepan and simmer for about 1-2 hours until thickened – mine didn’t thicken until it cooled, hence my long simmering. (The recipe said 1 hour, I did 2 hours.)

On the Stereo:
We'll Meet Again: The very best of Vera Lynn

Gado Gado with Marmalade

It was a hot couple of days earlier in the week. On Monday it was 43 C and the minimum temperature was 30.6 C overnight, which matched the hottest night on record in Melbourne’s history in 1902. Sylvia splashed about in her baby bath in the kitchen, I counted down the (4) hours til my orange and cranberry juice icy poles would be frozen enough to eat. Aren't the little jewel moulds cute!

For dinner I made gado gado, an excellent Indonesian dish for all lovers of peanut butter and vegetables. It feels right for a hot summer night. Plus, I bought a huge tub of peanut butter and was compelled to use it. I was glad that we had enough leftover for the next night because Tuesday was almost as hot. I wasn’t about to go out to the shops until the cool change arrived.

It was wonderful to throw open the windows and door later in the day to let the cool breeze in. Suddenly the languid hush gave way to the sounds of clinking plates and lively chatter from neighbouring houses. Ironically I stood in the rain that evening and hung out the washing while Zinc sheltered under the table. Being stuck inside in the heat makes one determined to go out once it is cooler. Rain will not stop us. The clothes were dry by the next morning anyway.

Gado gado is as easy as drying the washing in a heatwave. It is the sort of meal you can adapt depending on what is in the fridge. Before posting this version, I thought I should read up on traditional gado gado on Wikipedia. Simply described, gado gado is a peanut sauce over vegetable salad. Traditionally the sauce has peanuts, sugar, lime juice, chillis, tamarind and shrimp paste, and the salad has shredded green vegetables, bean sprouts, boiled potatoes, boiled eggs and fried tofu and tempeh. It also says that ‘authentic gado gado does not have carrots and tomatoes.’

It was no surprise to find that my sauce was not authentic but I had thought my spread of vegetables was fairly similar to those I have had in restaurants. According to Wikipedia these weren’t authentic because they included tomato and carrot. My addition of fried tempeh, boiled potato and beans sprouts would have got the approval but the fried eggplant and zucchini probably would not. Though I must have done something right with the eggplant because E ate it all up rather than pushing it to the side of his plate.

As for the sauce that I made, it is far from traditional. Some time ago I saw a suggestion for peanut dipping sauce made with soy, chillis and marmalade. I have a jar of my mum's marmalade that doesn’t get enough use so I tried it. The sauce was lovely but I did need to be a bit heavy handed with the soy to balance the marmalade. In future I might try to use less marmalade and soy. But I like the idea. Wikipedia suggested serving it with rice but I don’t usually do so.

I have written what I did below. However this is one of those recipes that I use what is on hand. Sometimes I add lemon juice and sweet chilli sauce rather than marmalade, or add onion at the start or coconut milk instead of water. I have added in cucumber, which I didn’t use but would have if Sylvia hadn’t eaten it all. I am not at all traditional but find it a relaxed dinner for hot summer nights. It is delicious and is suitable for those who are gluten free (if you use gf soy sauce) and vegan.

Gado Gado with Marmalade
serves 4

Peanut sauce:

• ½ tsp oil
• 1 chilli, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• ½ cup unmolested peanut butter
• 1-2 tbsp marmalade (I used 2 but it was too much)
• 1 - 1½ tbsp tamara or soy sauce (I used 1½ but would like to use less if not too sweet)
• 1½ cups water – add a third of this just before serving to thin down

Salad:

• oil for frying
• 300g tempeh, sliced into 8
• 2 Japanese eggplants, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 3-4 medium potatoes, roughly chopped and boiled
• 2 tomatoes, cut in wedges
• 1 medium carrot, cut in matchsticks
• 4 lettuce leaves, shredded
• 4 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced
• 2 handfuls bean sprouts
  

Fry tempeh, eggplants and zucchini in a large saucepan in oil over medium heat. It took me a while for the tempeh to crisp up – maybe 20-30 minutes and then I fried the vegetables separately because I didn’t have enough room.

While tempeh, eggplant and zucchini are frying, make the sauce: heat oil in a small saucepan and fry chilli and garlic in it for about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and stir till creamy and warm. If not using right away, only add 1 cup water and add the remaining half cup just before serving so it is quite a thin sauce.

When tempeh, eggplant and zucchini are fried, arrange all the salad ingredients on dinner plates. Drizzle sauce generously over salad.

On the stereo:
Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand

Vegetarian San Choy Bau

Some time ago I saw Frances making San Choy Bau on her Crunchy Green Things blog. The simplicity of the Asian dish appealed to me. I had not encountered it before, no doubt because I have never found a vegetarian version on a restaurant menu. But the idea of serving a flavoursome vegetarian mix in lettuce leaves seemed like fun. I enjoyed eating it but as I am unfamiliar with the dish I found it a bit of a mystery.



I was curious about San Choy Bau. On the web I found it had featured on two television shows recently. Kylie Kwong had made it on her Simply Magic television series. She is one of Australia’s celebrity chefs. Her family is from China and apparently this dish is popular there. Tobie Puttock, another celebrity chef, also made it in Shanghai on Toby and Matt: Asia television series. They both spell it Sung Choi Bao.



When I served it, I suddenly wondered where the carbs were. I know there are lots of people who have low carb diets who might like this but we usually have some carbs on our plate. Maybe it was meant to be one of many courses or a starter.



I had thought I would be able to pick it up in the lettuce leaf and eat it with my fingers but the large serving of hot filling in a large lettuce leaf was not something I could handle easily. Too hot. Too big. The next night I served it on rice with some shredded lettuce on top. If I was to serve it as finger food I would serve each person with several small pieces of lettuce rather than all of it in one piece of lettuce.



This is a great dish for our recent hot weather. It will suit gluten free and/or vegan diets. I loved the marinated tofu and vegetables in the filling. I thought I had read that san choy bau was often made with pork. On the second night when the tofu was really full of flavour I said to E that it was just like pork. He gave me a look that suggested it is a long time since I had pork. It tasted good anyway.



So I leave you with this quote that I came across recently. It struck a chord with me. Vegetarian dishes are not about imitating meat, even when fitting in with a meat-centred banquet – but rather it is about making food taste good.



“You can't make a nut loaf taste like meatloaf but you can make a nut loaf that tastes good.” in ‘Kitchen saboteurs - Avoid pitfalls, not benefits, of a vegetarian diet’, Liz Biro, Star News Online, 7 January 2010



Vegetarian San Choy Bau

Adapted from Kylie Kwong (via Crunchy Green Things) and Jill Dupleix

serves 4

• 375g firm tofu, crumbled
• 2 tbsp shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry (I used sherry)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 handfuls snow peas, diced
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 small carrot, grated
• 3cm piece ginger, finely grated
• 5 fresh shiitake mushrooms (I used 6 button), diced
• 1 cup bean sprouts (I used 100g or a couple of good handfuls)
• 6-8 best pieces of iceberg lettuce, washed and dried

Place crumbled tofu into a large bowl and add rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Leave to marinate while you chop vegetables. Place vegetables in bowl with tofu as they are chopped. Heat a large frypan or wok over medium high heat. Cook all ingredients except (bean sprouts and lettuce leaves) in vegetable oil for 4-5 minutes. Add bean sprouts and cook another 2-3 minutes. Serve in lettuce leaves or on a bed of rice with lettuce leaves shredded.



On the stereo:

The Detectives: The John Gregor Orchestra

Haggis nachos, haggis leftovers

It’s a crazy world. Our 2009 German calendar that I bought for $12 is being sold for $85 on Amazon. A poll has found that Australians buy more and then waste more food at Christmas than during the rest of the year. And the Scots celebrate Hogmanay with a sheep’s stomach full of offal. They call it haggis. Even meat-lovers cringe at the idea. Fortunately there is a vegetarian alternative that is much better. And I have finally found a great way to serve it. Would you believe, haggis nachos!

E and I have been eating home made vegetarian haggis on New Year’s Eve for the past 6 or 7 years but this year I finally found inspiration in serving it. For those who are unaccustomed to eating haggis, it tastes a bit like minced meat and the vegetarian haggis is a great substitute for minced meat for those like me who dislike TVP and other veggie mince.

In the past I have found that serving haggis with mashed neeps (turnip or sweet or rutabaga) and tatties (potatoes) as unsatisfactory as serving meat and three veg. After some searching I have hit gold. Haggis nachos was just the beginning. With the leftovers, I made haggis neeps and tatties pasties and then haggis neeps and tatties crepe stack. So I present to you three ways to serve haggis. New Year’s Eve has passed but you might like to keep these ideas in mind for Burns Night on 25 January.

New Year’s Eve was a hot day and the idea of putting on the oven was repugnant so I cooked these in the microwave. I made a few changes to my usual recipe so I have written what I have done below.

This year the house seems even more disorganized than usual. No matter how much cleaning I do I just can’t get on top of it. Sylvia does love to spread her toys, our CDs and any papers she can get her hand on, over the floor.

Usually I set a festive table for New Year’s Eve but this year with E being poorly and Sylvia keeping me busy, I didn’t have the energy to set the table. We just ate on the couch. Haggis nachos are excellent for a casual meal on a hot night. They could even be gluten free if you had gf oats and yeast extract (and I am not sure about whisky)

It is ages since I have made nachos. I love them but need them to be substantial enough for a meal. I often add a chilli non carne or vegetables. I think these were among the best nachos I have ever made. E is already asking me to make them again. Though it was no surprise that he loved them, given that he hadn’t eaten all day.

The inspiration for the nachos came from my favourite pub in Edinburgh, the Last Drop. I shared nachos there with friends, Yarrow and Mindy, on our trip there in November. Mindy was horrified at the fusion of cuisines but I loved it. In fact, I wonder if next time I might try some Mexican seasoning in the haggis such as smoky chipotle chillis, cumin and oregano. (Sorry Mindy.)

I based my salsa on the pico de gallo one I made a couple of years back. Unfortunately for the guacamole I had the perfect avocado, bought that day – what are the odds – but I overdid the lemon juice and then overdid the salt so it wasn’t my finest guac. Reminder to self: go slowly with seasoning. However, the haggis was underseasoned and in the final mix, it all tasted fine.

When I had a quick look at the internet to see how others had done nachos I found that salsa was often served after the nachos were cooked. But I preferred it in the mix when I cooked the nachos and found it melded with the haggis and cheese pleasingly. Quite a few did their nachos under the grill (broiler) but once I had mine together the pile was too large and reluctantly I turned on the oven. I had a bit of a problem with my timing to get them warmed right through. Next time I might do them longer or even spread them thinner in a bigger tray to help them cook quicker.

There is nothing like the delight of pulling at hot corn chips which are crisp at the corner and soggy with haggis and salsa which are held together in a clump with melty cheese and topped with cooling guacamole and yoghurt (or sour cream if that is your preferene). In an ideal world I would just put the hot tray of nachos in the middle of the table to dig into but Sylvia chose the moment when I was serving to wake up and it all became too impractical. So I used tongs to scoop some into a small bowl and spooned some guac and yoghurt over them. So so so good! Even more delicious with some raspberry punch.

It seems like a good place to end the post here but I must tell you how I used the leftovers. My next inspiration came from MangoCheeks. One of my favourite places for lunch in Edinburgh is the baked potato shop at the top of Cockburn Street. They do a great haggis on baked potato. I was tempted to go in on our recent trip but the palaver of getting the stroller into the small space was too much and we gave it a miss. Imagine my jealousy to see that MangoCheeks on the same weekend had gone there and got vegetarian haggis samosas. I wanted one.

I am intimidated by the idea of making samosa but I can easily knock up a pastie. You may have noticed that my non-traditional use of haggis on New Year’s Eve went as far as omitting neeps and tatties. Here was my opportunity to make amends. I boiled some very well seasoned neeps and tatties and made them into a pasty with the haggis.

I used the hot water pastry I had made previously. It worked even better this time than my first try. I decided against using an egg to glaze it because it just seems a waste of an egg and used soy milk instead. I also worked out how to make them look more professional. Delicious with tomato sauce.

My final reincarnation of the haggis was in a crepe stack. This was inspired by my recent pumpkin and ricotta crepe stack. It was my first success with crepes and left me wanting to try more, especially savoury versions. This stack wasn’t as successful. I made a cheese sauce to help it stick together but I think the fillings were too chunky and it didn’t really hold together when I served it. While it didn’t look great once cut into pieces, it tasted good and even my mum enjoyed a little taste.

I am going to try more savoury crepe stacks. It wasn’t a bad first attempt but I hope they will improve. I think a thinner sauce would be good. I love the way the blog seems to develop organically with meals morphing and inspiring me with new ideas and leftovers.

Once all the haggis was finished, I asked E which dish he enjoyed the most. He emphatically chose the haggis nachos. I agreed. They were superb but all these meals were great. Many pubs will do haggis in Edinburgh but I find it quite dull with mashed neeps and tatties. I hope these ideas will help do away with the sorry reputation of the haggis. The vegetarian version will upset the purists but it is really so good you must try it.

Vegetarian Haggis
adapted from recipe I posted in January 2008
Serves 4-6

⅔ cup (65g) rolled oats
⅔ cup (65g) oatmeal (I chopped up some rolled oats)
generous ½ cup (65g) mixed nuts, finely chopped (I used almonds, pecans, pine nuts)
65g margarine
1 small carrot
1 small onion
70g mushrooms
½ red capsicum
½ x 400g can white cannelini beans (a generous ½ cup)
½ tsp promite or other yeast extract
2 tbsp whisky
Juice of ½ lemon

Melt half the margarine and cook oats, oatmeal and nuts for about 3 minutes over medium heat in a large frypan. Transfer to a large bowl

Finely chop carrot, onion, mushroom, and beans. It is easiest to use a food processor so the mixture is very fine but I just used my chef’s knife, a chopping board and a good dollop of patience. Melt remaining margarine in the frypan and fry the vegetables and beans for about 2 minutes.

Return oats and nut mixture to the frypan with the vegetable mixture. Mix in the remaining ingredients and cook another 5 minutes.

NOTE: I had a visitor at this point and forgot the dried herbs and pepper and this was a little under seasoned but that was fine in the below dishes. But if you are not using in those dishes, you might want to check seasoning and also if it moist enough as the recipe suggests some extra melted margarine or veg stock if it is a little dry.

Place in a 13 x 22cm silicone loaf pan (ungreased). Press down and smooth with the back of a spoon. Cook 5 minutes in the microwave on high. Cool in the pan. It can be kept in the fridge for at least 3 days and reheated in the microwave.

Haggis Nachos
serves 2 as a hearty main or more people as a snack

Half a serve of above vegetarian haggis, crumbled
200g packet of salted corn chips
250g cheese, grated
yoghurt to serve

Guacamole:
1 avocado, mashed with a fork
2-3 tbsp lemon juice (I used ½ lemon which was too much)
pinch salt (I used too much)
small garlic clove, finely chopped
few drops Tabasco

Salsa:
3 tomatoes, diced
1 spring onion, finely sliced
1 red chilli pepper, finely chopped
juice of half a lime
1 garlic clove
pinch salt,

Firstly, make the guacamole but mixing all ingredients together – start with just a little lemon juice and salt and add more according to taste – and make the salsa by mixing the ingredients together.

Now take a large oven proof tray. (Mine is about a 25cm round ceramic dish) Layer ⅓ corn chips, ½ haggis, ⅓ salsa, ⅓ cheese. Repeat layering and then finish with corn chips, salsa and cheese.

Heat in oven at 180 C for about 20-40 minutes. I only did 15 minutes and it was not enough to heat through but it depends on your oven. Serve with guacamole and yoghurt.

Haggis Neeps and Tatties Pasties
pastry from recipe I posted in September 2008
makes 4

Hot water pastry
125g margarine
150ml hot water
1½ cups plain white flour
1 cup plain wholemeal flour
½ tsp salt
soy milk, for glazing pastry

Filling (This will make twice what you need for the pasties)
½ serve of above vegetarian haggis, crumbled
330g turnip (aka swede), peeled and diced
430g potato, diced
salt

To make filling, boil potatoes and turnip in well salted water until soft. I cooked them together but I think the potatoes took about 20 minutes and the neeps took about another 20 minutes before they went soft, so you could cook them separately. Mix with haggis.

To make pastry, pour hot water over margarine in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and stir in flours and salt. It will be stiff and a little crumbly but once you use your hands to press it together it should come together into a smooth ball.

Cut ball into four pieces. I found that the outside hardened a little on remaining pieces while I used first piece but they still rolled out fine. Use a rolling pin to roll pastry out to a circle of about 20cm diameter (about ½ cm thick).

Place two to three dessertspoons of filling towards the bottom of the circle, leaving about 1cm pastry around the edge. Use your fingers to press the filling into a neat half circle.

Use a brush or your fingers to moisten the edges of the circle with water or soy milk. Turn over the pastry to cover the filling and use your fingers to press together to seal the filling in. Now if you want your pasties to look good, I found that it was best to moisten the edge again and fold it over once more and use two index fingers to press together quite firmly to make indents along the edge. Brush with soy milk. Make a few slits with a knife to let steam out while baking.

Bake at 200 C for 10 minutes and then at 180 C for 30 minutes. (Or if you get confused like me, at 180 C for 10 minutes and then 200 for about 20 minutes.) The pasties are ready when they are golden brown.

Haggis Neeps and Tatties Crepe Stack
Crepe recipe from post in December 2009
serves 4

Crepes:
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
30g margarine, melted
extra margarine for frying

Filling:
about half the haggis neeps and tatties filling from above pasties

White sauce:
1 dessertspoon margarine
1 dessertspoon wholemeal plain flour
about 1 cup soy milk
about 100g grated cheese, or to taste

To make the white sauce, melt margarine in a small saucepan. Stir in flour and mix over low heat for a minute or two. Gradually whisk in milk to make a smooth thin sauce. Bring to the boil so it thickens slightly. Stir in cheese until melted. This will make the sauce thicker so you might need a bit extra milk if it is too thick.

To make crepes: Whisk together eggs and milk in a small bowl. Place flour in a large bowl and gradually whisk in egg and mix mixture. Add butter. Leave to stand for about 30 minutes. Fry quarter cups of batter in buttered frypan over medium heat for about 30 second each side till just golden brown. Stack cooked crepes on plate under foil to keep warm.

To assemble, place a pancake on a serving plate, spread thinly with a spoonful of warm cheese sauce. Top with a spoonful or two of warm haggis filling. Repeat until you have used final pancake. Top with remaining cheese sauce and haggis. I would have liked thinner cheese sauce that might have trickled down the side but it wasn’t to be. Serve in wedges.

On the stereo:
Victory for the Common Muse: Divine Comedy