Each to their own as they say …

I think this is a confused recipe. It was going well until the 400g of chicken style Quorn pieces. I should explain myself. As a vegetarian I use certain Quorn products regularly and think their range is great. What I'm not so keen on, as in this case, is including them in a recipe where they aren't needed. An ingredient “chicken style”?

I don't think the addition of a product that's whilst vegetarian, is designed to have the texture of chicken, fits - I'd have used potato instead. If you want to make a pie using Quorn chicken pieces which is intended to replicate exactly that ingredient then make a Quorn “chicken” and mushroom pie – the two are meant to be together in a delicious sauce. Quorn is made from a natural fungus, fermented and into a mycoprotein so lends itself to mushroom. It takes on whatever flavours you use in your cooking which is why it's such a versatile product.

This is a large pie – nearly Desperate Dan level and a tendency I think to be a little dry, not a good look for a pie filling.

Moving on to the pastry - unless you're familiar with creating a lattice then the description in the method of how to achieve it is poor – I have this vision of you covered in flour with a tape measure or a ruler and finally screwing it all into a ball and lobbing it at the wall!

It doesn't give you servings – it's either four large or six standard. It does freeze well.

I feel guilty for criticising but I owe it to you to point out the downside to any recipe.

Now it's time for me to step up and back up my mouth! As always my aim is to make life easier – what follows is my version of a cheesy lattice pie and hopefully the recipe is comprehensive.

Cheesy Lattice Pie

If you follow the blog you'll know that I have this addiction to pies and cheese, potato and onion versions in particular, which is probably why this caught my eye.

Here's the recipe, verbatim, from The Vegetarian Society :

For the lattice top

500g vegetarian ready rolled or block

puff pastry

For the filling

500g leeks, finely sliced and washed

1 tbsp olive oil

25g vegetarian margarine

1 tsp paprika

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp plain flour

200ml milk

100g vegetarian cheese, grated

400g vegetarian cream cheese

400g chicken style Quorn pieces

50g sun-dried tomato, diced

1 tsp fresh thyme or parsley, finely chopped

50g frozen peas

For the glaze

1 egg beaten

Method

Pre-heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

To make the filling, gently melt the margarine with the oil in a frying pan and fry the leeks for 5 minutes then add the paprika and garlic. Sprinkle on the flour whilst stirring to create your sauce.

Add the milk a little at a time whilst stirring. Add the grated cheese, cream cheese, Quorn, sun dried tomatoes, herbs and peas. Cook for 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning as required. Place your filling into a pie dish, 25cm x 25cm. Allow to cool.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry until it is 40cm x 40cm or large enough to cover your pie dish with at least 10cm spare around the edge. Cut your pastry into strips 3cm across. Thread the pastry on your pie dish to make a lattice effect keeping the joins nice and tight. Seal the edges of the pie by pressing down on the pastry with a fork. Brush the top of the pie with your glaze and bake for 45 minutes in the pre-heated oven.

Each to their own as they say – anything with cheese and I loved the idea of a lattice pastry top … hmm

I promised a treat or two … one savoury, one sweet – here's the savoury

Every now and again a recipe catches my eye. It has been a while but recently I came across “Guinness and Treacle Soda Bread” in the January edition of Waitrose Food January 2020 -The Feel Good Issue.

I have always had a weakness for good bread. There's nothing like home-made bread – the only problem is that it's a bit of a faff and it takes too long … unless you're making soda bread – no yeast or kneading needed – what's not to love.

Not surprising then that this caught my attention. The recipe looks easy – the photo is fab so lets give it a go. This is genuine research – so many recipes are a let down, inaccurate – you're drawn in by the clever photography and the Food Stylist.

What follows is the exact recipe from the magazine, followed by some hints and tips and finally a photo guide.

“Wholesome, rustic soda bread looks and tastes like something that hours of love and care have gone into. In reality, it's wonderfully simple and with no yeast or kneading required, a warm loaf can be out of the oven in about an hour”.

Guinness and Treacle Soda Bread

400g strong white bread flour

extra for dusting

100g strong wholemeal flour

50g jumbo oats

10g fine salt

1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

40g unsalted butter, cubed

150g Guinness

175g natural yogurt

60g black treacle

You can see why I fancied this loaf!

Next up … the method

Everyone is catered for!

The great thing these days is that there is so much choice for vegetarians and vegans, the world is definitely your aubergine!

There's so much information and help out there too. I've been a member of The Vegetarian Society for years, since 1999 to be exact.

You get a seasonal members' magazine which is crammed full of :

Current news

Features

Food – of course – in its broadest sense with tips,

recipes and places that carry the all important “VSA” (Vegetarian

Society Approved) trademark

Regular stuff including book reviews

Fancy a cookery class? The choice is wide from Chocolate Craft for Vegans to The Indian Guru.

The magazine gives you up to date information on new products and the latest to carry both vegetarian and vegan trademarks. It even has a dietitian service.

Best of all is probably the Classifieds.

If you'd like to know where you can buy a pair of “vegetarian/vegan” friendly shoes look no further.

I am fortunate in that one of the advertisers is a place very close to my heart and home – Daily Bread Co-operative in Northampton - have a look at their website – www.dailybread.co.uk – you won't be sorry.

If you were thinking of preparing your Christmas List (sorry, but it's on its way) you could do worse than to ask for a subscription.

Have a look at their website www.vegsoc.org - they can be found at Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, WA14 4QG 0161 925 2000.

It's fantastic value for money.

Now for the book …

The best magazine photos

Set out your stall!

Makes life a lot easier.

A useful piece of kit for an even base.

Looking good.

Looking better still!

I'll report back on the frozen bars …

The best magazine … that's gratis and a grumpy old cook.

Most supermarkets have a give away magazine, usually monthly or seasonally. To the best of my knowledge there's only one supermarket in the UK that charges for the privilege and that is Sainsbury's. You can generally find something of interest in all of them but my award for the best is Waitrose Food (WF).

In the April edition – p111 – “The Sweet Spot” gives a recipe for Lemon curd crumble bars, described as a zesty, springtime treat from the WF test kitchen.

I suppose the recipe attracted my attention for two reasons, lemon and crumble – a perfect combination. I did what I always do, set my stall out and prepped all the ingredients so that I could get stuck in whenever I felt like it.

Here's the grumpy old cook bit. The recipe calls for a 325g jar of lemon curd. Oh goodie I thought - I was given a really posh organic lemon curd Waitrose Duchy Organic Sicilian Lemon Curd to be precise – I'll use that. When I took it from the pantry I was not impressed to read that it weighed only 320g. You may think I'm being picky – may be you're right – but if I'm “road testing” a recipe for the first time I follow it to the gram.

I then made matters worse and went on a “curd hunt” and pulled out Waitrose Orange Curd and M&S Sicilian Lemon Curd – guess what – they both weighed 325g.

I feel almost guilty criticising particularly since I think the WF mag is excellent. I realise that originally the “Duchy” label was acquired from The Duchy of Cornwall – in other words Prince Charles and I know that it supports The Prince's Charities. It may be that it goes with the territory but it makes no sense that you're selling what is now a Waitrose product that doesn't fit the WF recipe. Moan over!

I shall now “get a life” as they say! Here are my notes – try making your lemon curd in the microwave – it's faster – check out Saturday 11^th February 2017 – Sweet week – The lemon curd dilemma for the recipe.

I have frozen the bars – watch this space to see what happens.

I served the bars as a dessert, warmed with home-made ice cream – went down a storm!

P.s. If you're not able to pick up a copy of the magazine check out www.eatyourbooks.com and check out Waitrose Food Magazine April 2017 for the recipe.

Photos coming up - see if you're tempted.