Tuesday 24 January 2012

OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN FOR A MINUTE

Okay so I conclude. The long-life legume soup will never taste the same no matter how perfect I try to get it or how many times I cook it. I digress though, there must be a point in time when having used the same ingredients in the same measures using the same time frames altogether a grand total of 6 or 7 times, when the results should be consistent but in Albert Einstein defying style it has all managed to yield different results. The eagle eyed amongst you should have noticed how I started this post with an excuse, because I simply haven't had enough time to be in the kitchen, there has been so much going on it feels like an eternity, and when I say so much it literally is so much that I thank god that I passed some of the worst temptations yet to gnaw at our beloved friends in the animal kingdom. I have been super duper ultra occupied but no matter all will calm down and with a brand new shiny kitchen to boot :) I will not promise I will have more time to get down with the Blog or make new recipes up. I will always have time for that just that conceptually speaking I'm lacking a spark lol. Now I'm just being lazy lol.

I am yet to cook up the home made Pesto and Humus and after a bunch of my friends asked on  a night out I want to try and help create budget dish ideas (I sold my metamorphic dish - a cut down version anyway - and the guy was enthralled) for people with neither time nor money (read students), WARNING - They may contain preservatives. lol Has anyone noticed how they sell vegetarians the most amount of rubbish from the supermarket shelves. A friend of mine is a fresh food from the market freak and I totally understand now because just a few minutes (read hours) spent in the supermarket aisles checking out the labels on a lot of these foods can reveal a lot of madness and my advice is watch what you put in your mouth. But honestly stay away from labels like "Suitable For Vegetarians" "Sugar Free" "No Added Sugar" etc etc. There is probably more junk in there than you would find in a McDonald's Big Mac Burger.

In the beginning of this Blog I wanted to post the playlists of the music I was listening to while cooking/experimenting etc. I dropped this idea because it just felt like it would eventually end up as a huge sample tank of the music in my library and sometimes I found that the concentration levels required in the kitchen mean the less noise going on then the better it is to understand what is going on :) I have a notebook to hand every second time I'm trying out a recipe and remember there are things I decide for a number of reasons are not worth publishing so maybe we can work together there in understanding that I wont have a new recipe everyday so no new playlist everyday and that makes me sad. For whatever it is worth I have decided that I am too much of a "muso" to let it go that easy and a long, long, long time ago I had plans to ramp up a music Blog so I decided that where I do not have enough time to rant about the good and the bad of kitchen utensils (watch this space). I may as well check out my favourite artists, old or new, and the raw elements of hiphop and as I still have friends in that side of things maybe some funky new and exclusive downloads for whoever bothers to care so it will all be out  and posted for you. As a matter of fact my friend D-Vocalist just produced some stuff with a new act and I asked if I could give it away and he said yeah sure, do whatever ! (like all good friends would) so watch out for that record coming in a minute. That side of things will be administered on here by my alter ego "sugaspott" somewhere around the blog when I get a chance to troll the Internets just for the lulz.

 As for now I will leave you with a really funny picture posted by one of my Facebook associates. I do not own it so if you do own it, remember the fair use of copyright statute and don't be a *******

Tuesday 17 January 2012

The Metamorphisis

Change Changes Everything, Even Change Itself. I Believe This Because Ever Since We Were Kids Me And My Friends Parroted Theories That Were As Hard-Line As “Adapt Or Die”, Lol, Little Did We Know We Were Actually Bandying Around Theories Championed By Folks Such As Messrs’ Darwin And Hawkins. Now I Am Not Trying To Create A Stupid Connection Between The Theory Of Evolution Or Concept Behind Survival Of The Fittest And A Vegetarian Diet. It Would Be Foolhardy To Even Try. I Am Astonished However At My Ability To Change Said Diet Structure And Enjoy That Change.

I Have Changed So Many Other Aspects Of My Life In Adhering To A Challenge But It Hasn’t Come Without Its Difficulties And While I’m At It I Would Like To Use This Platform To Rant As Much As Possible About Some Of Those Difficulties.  Like For Example I Have A Dish That Seems To Taste Different Every Time I Prepare It So I Am No Longer Sure That It Is Even Possible, The Good Thing Though Is How I Have Discovered Other Things Along My Persistence To Get That Specific Dish To Be Consistent In Taste And Preparation As Any Budding Money Hungry Cook Book Publisher Lol. Jokes.




I Have So Many Questions As A Result Of My Misadventures In The Kitchen. Like Why Do All Legumes Need Soaking Overnight And How Come They End Up Tasting Differently If You Remove Or Add Another Component? What Really Is Broth ?

All Things Considered I Wonder If People Knew There Is More Sugar In Commercial Brown Bread Than There Is In Commercial White Bread, So The Idea That Brown Bread Is Healthier Is Actually Rubbish. There Is Also So Much Sugar In Most Commercial Jams And Marmalades Than There Is In Sugar. Seriously I Spend So Much Time Reading Labels Than My Actual School Work Its Frankly Despicable What You Get To Learn. I Am Spending More Time In Shops Reading Labels Than Actually Shopping.
As A Matter Of Fact It Reminds Me Of A Quote From A Good Friend, "Just Drink, It Will Make All The Pain Go Away". It Could Be Touted As A Plausible Solution To It All. I Was Recently On The Trail Of Verifying The Odds Of Some Conspiracy Behind One Of The Preservatives Used In Fast Foods. It Is Said This Preservative Disables The Receptors In Whatever Part Of The Body Is Responsible For Controlling Appetite Making You Eat For The Sake Of Eating And Not As A Response To Facilitate Your Needs. Gosh Think Of The Days Maslow And Co Tried To Define The Hierarchy Of Needs. They Would Be So Disappointed. I Guess It Explains Why Fast Food Is Never Really Filling!

I Also Wonder Whether As A People We Are Actually Dumb Because Is It Really Necessary To Label Peanut Butter With The “May Contain Nuts” Sign. I Mean Its Peanut Butter. And Speaking Of Sugars As We Were Up There, I Am Curious Because If My Memory Serves Me Right And It Has Never Let Me Down Intentionally, I Don’t Recall The Old Ladies From My Hometown (Who Conjured Up The Tastiest Crunchiest Peanut Butter) Using Sugar In Order To Make Peanut Butter. It Made Me Contemplate About Whether It May Be Necessary To Legislate Against The Usage Of Sugar In Foods Sold Commercially And Whether All The Conspiracy Theories That Float Online Are Really And Truly Not A Fragment Of Some Over Excited 11 Year Old’s Imagination. I Think Manufacturers Need To Be Held To Account For Their Practices And That Is The Final Word.

Next Week Sees Me Try And Do Homemade Pesto As I Have Fallen In Love With The Green Stuff (Or Red Depending On Your Persuasion). Not To Forget Humus As I Am Also A Newly Converted Fan But Yes I Found A Brand Selling Humus With Sugar Listed Under Ingredients. I Wonder If The Bookies Can Make A Market Of How Long Before I Vomit In Store As A Result Of Reading Some Disgusting Food Label.

Quickie Soupie



Now Im getting used to the idea of bringing out really raw food on the work surface and making a meal i was curious in testing how fast i can go with a healthy dish from first chop to sitting down and eating and i have this little gem which no doubt will get better and faster. First instance starting to cook about 20 minutes before a big game kicked off with my heart set in stone that i will eat at half time. Excellent! Second time around wasn't time demanding but i had come from a serious night out and i have friends who can really do it hard, in fact i will always have a little chuckle whenever i do this dish now because it will definitely bring some pretty hedonistic memories up.


INGREDIENTS

Pinch Of Salt Or To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
2 X Stock Cubes
3 Cloves Of Garlic Sliced
Tablespoon Ground Ginger (Or Try A Chunk Of The Freshly Chopped Kind)
3 Chopped Carrots
A Whole Onion Roughly Chopped
2 Potatoes
Chopped Leek (Amazing)
Chopped Parsley

PREPARATION
Mix Everything In A Cauldron, Add Water And Bring To Boil, Reduce Heat And Let Simmer For Up To 30 Minutes Or Until The Solids Are Tender Enough. How Simple And Quick Could This Be.

NOTES
The Second Time I Tried This I Added Red Pesto 5 Minutes Before The End And It Was Fantastic, It Brought Out A Sincere Flavour And Character To The Soup I Will Recommend It And Try It With My Homemade Pesto Once I Get A Chance To Work It Out.



Monday 16 January 2012

Vegi Fry Up



This dish came around as i missed having a fried bouquet of all sorts of meat which always go down well after that night out and you just need to face a new day in style. The memories of last nights misdemeanors always bring a smile as your fork and knife turn your plate into Picasso's finest from an array of meats with enough oily grime to redefine the meaning of filth. Well maybe not so but you get the point. A beautiful dish as it takes just 15 minutes to make, i found keeping the vegetables crunchy added to that really fry uppish morning after feel.


INGREDIENTS

Half Onion
Kenyan Green Chili
3 Chopped Cloves of Garlic
1 Chopped Courgette
Sliced And Chopped Mixed Peppers (A third of Yellow, Red And Green Should About Suffice)
Half Lemon
250g Chopped Mushrooms (Thereabouts)
3 Teaspoons Mixed Spice
Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Vegetable Stock Cube


PREPARATION

Add Oil To A Saucepan That Has Been Heated And Warm It For Around 3 Minutes.
Add Onion, Garlic, Kenyan Chili And Stir Vehemently. Try Not To Cook The Onion Completely Before You Add The Black Pepper And Mixed Spice.
Add Every Other Vegetable Stirring And Frying As You Would Anything Else.
The Stock Cube Should Be Mixed With The 2 Teaspoons Of Pesto And Diluted With Water In A 330-ml Cup Or Something Similar. You’re Aiming For A Very Rich Solution Which You Proceed To Add To The Saucepan.
Add Salt And Stir Again. Cover And Simmer For 5 Minutes.
Presto.


OPTIONAL
Drizzle with freshly squeezed lemon juice and sprinkle some cinnamon for an extra zingy tastiness. Serve with a bit of bread and butter or as you would a normal fry up.

NOTES
This dish is not just for breakfast, also good after a workout i found out recently... :)


Tuesday 10 January 2012

Does It Really Taste Like Chicken ?





Okay lets demistify the it tastes just like chicken adage, nothin but chicken has any authority to taste like chicken and that is the bottom line. Why would anyone even say this ? Its almost as if one is acknowledging chicken as the tastiest solitary component of any meal. While as a former carnivore I do admit the bird was pretty tasty but believe me I have been enlightened. Now im not trying to convince you that chicken is not tasty because god forbid it is but is it the tastiest ? I mean is it true that once a deli equivalent of your unusual small animal or vegi blows your taste buds off the metaphorical ritcher scale it automatically needs to draw comparisions to the golden bird. Let me just clarify that even before I became a vegetarian I had succesfully staged a boycott of fried chicken successfully for over a year and feel even more determined to uphold this personal stance.
I can see confusion in your eyes right now, like what the fuck is he talking about. You could almost imagine that I will pluck the hair off the next person I see eating a chicken. No I will be a pussy and look the other way but unfortunately I will not be so lenient with the next person I give one of my home conjured recipes and they say it tastes just like chiken when it clearly doesent. I have been told by someone that I happen to be smiling more but somehow more aggressive and im like !?!? Wtf.

I appreciate that things have changed with me over the last 10 days but c'mon get a grip its only been 10 days... And in the last 10 days I have felt an increased sense of smug as im in the supermarket and hang around the healthy foods sections, im contemplating trading them for healthier alternative food shops altogether. Watch this space lol. But really its been quite a good start to the year. I am in a supermarket whizzing past the meats, whizzing past the alcohol, whizzing past the tobacconist lol, then just paying more for the organic variants of stuff im not even sure I can pronounce, not too mention too bright colored for my liking but im dealing with it in a very responsible way I reckon. I never thought I would get to a day where I would actually say some days I wake up looking forward to the day because I bought a bunch of stuff im dying to put under the knife...hehe

I recorded a days worth of my consumed food (a friend reckons I will lose weight and place my life in danger because according to this list there isint enough fat and enough water or water retaining material) and it reads of like a Venetian artist's dream, serenaded by the charm of the gods for being so bio-efficient lol

Wake up to an Apple (1 a day keeps the doctor away), a Glass of pure Orange Juice (the expensive stuff) all supporting an Avocado and Pesto Wholegrain Sandwich.

Snack Time: much a Stick of Celery which I defuse taste by dipping in Humous

A cup of Tea sweetened with honey and some Oatcakes

LongLife Legume Soup (RECIPE COMING SOON) with a Glass of soya milk on the side

2 slices of wholegrain bread spread with nutella and another cup of tea

Now that you know I am teaching my taste buds to appreciate the finer things in life I really will fist you up if you give me that it tastes just like chicken bullshit

Sunday 8 January 2012

The Metamorphic Casserole de CousCous


INGREDIENTS
2 Carrots
1 Whole Swede
A Bunch of Black Beans (say about 100g as I used about a fifth of a 500g packet)
3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
100g Kenyan Green Beans
1 bowl of Spinach
Half an Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
50g Pesto
Pinches of Nutmeg, Black Pepper, Mixed Spices and Salt

PREPARATION
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan for 2-3 minutes; add the onion and garlic turning frequently, until softened and lightly charred all over. Add the ground nutmeg, black pepper and mixed spices. Mix thoroughly as I think this helps the flavours to evenly mix. Add the couscous and turn frequently. It is very important that you don’t let the couscous cook but really you just want it to heat up and absorb some flavour. Turn the heat down completely and add your cup of vegetable stock into the pan. Cover the pan and let it set.

Prepare the beans by soaking overnight. Rinse thoroughly and bring to boil for about 10 minutes. Lower the heat and let them simmer for the next 20 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and add the carrots and swede chopped up. The green beans can follow suit. Allow another 10mins of boil and then add finally the spinach. Remove the pot from the hob and add the couscous mix. Now mix thoroughly salting according to your taste, a pinch of black pepper wouldn’t hurt either.

OPTIONAL
Garnish with some Basil and serve with a glass of %100 Tomato Juice. Awesome!

NOTES
I was not recording times or measurements so please forgive me if this throws you off the rails but I can say I have successfully tried this 3 times and it has always been in a way similar to what is described here.


THE FIRST SEVEN DAYS

Gosh im so flushed im not really sure what to say...erm i guess i will start by saying hello, :)
no seriously i am writing a blog that really and truly if you found your way here you're either like me very sad or like me you're very open minded. Open minded enough to see whether one of my made up recipes will uncover a treasure for your taste buds ? Who knows ? Were here already and besides, until you try it out I guess no-one will ever know !

I DECIDED TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN FOR 2 REASONS 

1) As a way of challenging my own discipline and self control and just to satisfy the extremists i also decided to quit smoking and alcohol in one go so not only does it make the challenge three times harder but it also means that the mental strength required is quite phenomenal.

2) I also became a vegetarian because i wanted to give my body a detox, i mean i have probably put all known chemicals on the periodic chart into my body at some stage of my 28 years on this life (controlled Class A & B substances not included) so with that in mind i guess one thing led to another and im in a phase where i just want to change things especially my atmosphere its got me here

SO WHATS THE FUCKING POINT ?


This blog is a collection of the vegetarian exploits of one random zimbabwean  guy who live in london or near it anyway man im really not sure where it starts and ends but im somewhereabouts :) It might be a surprise to some of you reading this but I don't think I will be a vegetarian forever after so I will set myself a minimum target, a year so the idea is to produce some kind of literature that serves as a record of that journey, some kind of dictionary even and be able to interchange it to a cook book or a recipe book eh how cool is that ?

I will not use this platform to talk about my exploits with smoking and or alcohol, thats a different blog topic altogether man besides i don't have so much time to pursue a law degree and learn how to cook essentially and write it all down without trying to write how its like to try and quit smoking...So I will give you all a quick catch up on the last seven days (The first seven days of January and the first seven days of this metamorphosis). THEY HAVE BEEN CRUEL. i cant emphasize how bad it has been but i have learnt new things like really and truly I kid you not,

Soya milk is the future, if the animal conservatists get their way then soya milk is the future (My vegi diet is not vegan in description but limits the quantities of dairy products consumed to as little as possible as opposed to none at all which im scared may be detrimental to my health). Soya milk is awesome. i cannot praise it enough. i think its a travesty i wasnt aware of this and that governments should legislate to make it more obvious that there is a healthier choice out there (god i must sound like them loony animal activists but the truth is if yoou try it yourself you will probably feel just as strong about it as i do now) Soya milk is awesome but unfortunately as i have discovered it really isint the best alternative especially for Oats Porridge. STAY AWAY

Honey isnt actually as sweet as it first appears to be, I was trying to sweeten a strong tea with the thick stuff and it just wouldnt work. I poured and poured and poured and poured and poured the honey in there but nope, the tea was having none of it. I guess you can count on PG Tips to be hard as the nations fav brand. Nothing like good old Tanganda Tea from my hometown of Mutare  in Zimbabwe.

Other than that im wondering if Chick Peas are what i grew up calling round nuts because you wouldnt think so when you taste humous because chick peas and roundnuts man, they taste very similar, and oh you know when the grannies would mix the roundnuts with peanuts and make this collage of healthy goodness (NOTE to self : must find out from one of my plethora of female siblings if i can do this recipe). I was considering that I put a playlist of the music I was listening to while I was cooking as well so it kinda makes for a richer experience, c'mon I used to rap so hiphop is a big part of my life now and forever whereas this vegi phase may and will go at some point in the future.

bon apetit

PS its ok ladies, im not going celibate just yet, just take a ticket and stand in line :) lol