Heathfield & District

Cooking during 2017

December 2017 - this month we tried something I hadn't heard of before. Roasted veg and hummus pie. Then we made some roasted nuts and a seasonal cranberry, orange and ginger chutney

November 2017 - we made some mixed veggie nuggets this month, really good. We also explored a recipe for spinach, mushroom and pesto spaghetti and finished up with soda bread - sun dried tomato and chive soda bread

October 2017 - we made a recipe from a Yotam Ottolenghi book this month - parsley, lemon and cannelloni bean salad. A lovely dish, easy and quick to make and bursting with delicious goodness. After that we made Tagliatelle with walnuts and lemon and Indian stuffed potato cakes which use ordinary vegetables in an unusual way

 September 2017 - This month, we welcomed a new member and had a lovely, lively meeting. We did some recipes from Anna del Conte's marvellous book. We started off with Gatto de Patate potato cake filled with mozzarella and prosciutto). Then we moved on to Polpettone di Fagiolini (green bean and potato pie).
-----While those two were in the oven, we made Cipolline in Agrodolce (onions in a sweet and sour sauce) and Orecchiette con Brocolli (pasta with broccoli). All were fantastico!

 
August 2017 - there was no meeting as Lesley was away celebrating 40 years since meeting her husband

4th July - As usual, we fitted in lots of different recipes in our two hours. As well as a couple of made up things, I wanted to try some recipes from a new book. I saw a couple of recipes from Izy Hozzack in the paper and liked the look of them. I investigated her blog, topwithcinnamon.com, and was impressed by her knowledge and interesting flavour combinations. Miso orange courgette salad: red lentil harrisa hummus and herbed couscous: gingerbread pancakes with salted treacle butter all caught my eye for instance. You know how much I like to try new things!

We started off our session with Soy, honey and sesame chicken. -----

We also made some salads from Izy's book. We did Broccoli Apple Yogurt Slaw: Tahini Carrot Slaw and Carrot Ribbon, Cinnamon & Halloumi Salad.

Then I showed how you can make some lovely hummus using cheapest baked beans that have been rinsed of their sauce. Once everyone had left, I made some bean hummus using remains of carrots we had been using, plus some rocket from the garden. Love Your Leftovers!

6th June 2017.
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We explored many things oaty in June. We did overnight oats and spoke about all the different flavours you can include, plus the original Bircher muesli. We made some lovely granola bars very similar to the ones in Sainsbury, and some rosemary oatcakes. We finished off with a sweet potato and lentil soup.

 

 
May 2017 saw us in curry mode. We made a cauliflower, pea, cashew and coconut curry. This was accompanied by chicken tikka and sesame green beans. Wonderful stuff!

April 2017
We welcomed a new member and bad farewell to another that can no longer attend. We made something that Lesley has been making for decades, an avocado, orange and tomato salad. Usually eaten with crusty bread and a piece of Brie. This was followed by spiralising a lot of root vegetables and baking them in the oven. The result was nests of crispy loveliness, definitely to be repeated.

March 2017
The meeting was cancelled as no-one could come

February 2017
We made a pasta dish. Large pasta shells, stuffed with ricotta, spinach and walnuts, covered with a spicy tomato sauce and a bit of cheese, then baked in the oven. Delicious! While that was baking we made some carrot and sesame burgers and a green lentil shepherds pie. Lovely, homely fare.
We also did a comparison of some value chopped tomatoes and a premium brand. The verdict was that each had its place

Meeting 3rd January 2017
The group welcomed a new member, and bid farewell to an existing member who is moving on the 18th to Basingstoke to be nearer her family members.
This month, after the excesses of the festive period, we explored some vegetable options. We made two warming soups, Curried Parsnip and a very simple Mushroom one.
We also made a classic vegetarian dish from the Cranks repertoire, Vegetable Stew and Cheese Dumplings