Chickpea stew

This was taken from several different recipes.

1/2 cup by volume dried chickpeas

1/2 litre boiling water

1 vegetable stock cube

1/2 litre cold water

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 large onion

large chunk butternut squash

A few mushrooms (up to 1/3 large punnet)

I broccoli stem (you can add some florets if you like, but I didn't)

2 cloves garlic

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Seasoning to taste - I used pepper, mixed herbs and a teaspoonful of vinegar - the stock cube meant it didn't need salt.

Soak the chickpeas in boiling water for at least an hour, ideally more.  Then drain and rinse, and put in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot with the stock cube and cold water and cook on high for 12 minutes, allowing it to come down from pressure at room temperature.  You can, of course, boil the chickpeas on the stove, but that will take at least 45 minutes to an hour, Or, of course, you could use a large tin.

In the meantime, chop the onion and sweat in the oil for a few minutes while you peel and chop the rest of the vegetables.  Add them to the pot, and stir, allowing them to sweat a bit.  Now take about 1/3 of the chickpeas and some of their cooking water and blitz until smooth.  Add this to the pot, plus the tinned tomatoes and as much of the rest of the chickpea liquid as you need to rinse out the tin of tomatoes.  If you are using tinned chickpeas, use cold water for this, unless you actively like aquafaba, which I don't!

Season to taste, and then bring to the boil and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.  This will serve 3 or 4, especially if you add rice or quinoa or similar.  I used quinoa to add more protein.  

I think, were I to make it again, I'd use a small tin of chickpeas to blitz up and thicken it, as I didn't think there were quite enough chickpeas left.  As I have a lot of the stew left over, I'll add a small tin to it before we have it again.  

Bean and tomato stew

So yesterday I made a sauce for pasta using a tin of chopped tomato with chili, and another tin of chopped tomato with onion and garlic, which I tossed into a pan with half a tin of water (rinsed out both tins), and left it to get on with it.  But it was rather liquid, so to thicken it I got out a small tin of red kidney beans which I blended with a stick blender and stirred in.  Seasoned, the sauce was delicious with Schwabian Maultasche, but we only wanted about half of it.

So tonight......

1/2 cup cannelini beans, soaked for one hour in boiling water

1 vegetable stock cube

1 very large onion (or two small ones)

1 red pepper

1 chili pepper

1 garlic clove

1 pack unsmoked lardons 

The end of a punnet of mushrooms

1/2 quantity of tomato sauce, see introduction

Put the beans into a pressure cooker with 1/2 the onion, 1/2 the pepper, the chili, the garlic and the stock cube.  Leave the onion and pepper whole; I did cut the chili in half and removed the seeds, but you don't have to.  Cover with water, and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before releasing pressure, and ideally let it release pressure naturally.

Chop the other half of the onions and pepper, and fry them up in a heavy-based pan with the lardons and mushrooms.  Add the tomato sauce.  Remove the onion, pepper and chili (and garlic if you can get it) from the pressure cooker, and blend with a tablespoonful of stock.  Add this to the casserole.  Stir well and check the seasoning, and let simmer for about 1/2 an hour.  Serve with crusty bread and butter.

Instant Pot Risotto - updated 16 March 2021

 Some years ago now, I experimented with a slow cooker risotto, which didn't really go anywhere.  However, recently I have been learning how to make risotto in the Instant Pot, which is a very different technique to a normal risotto.  It is also a lot quicker - I don't really mind a risotto taking a long time to cook when I'm in the motor home (where it is a staple), but at home, it's nice not to be stuck in the kitchen!

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup risotto rice

About 125 ml white wine (cooking wine is fine)

Extra vegetables, as liked (I used mushrooms and a courgette, of which more anon)

Up to 250 ml stock (chicken is nicest, but vegetable is fine if you're vegetarian), ideally hot

Seasoning, as liked

1 tbs cooking oil

1 knob of butter 

1/2 packet shaved parmesan, or vegetarian equivalent

Put the Instant Pot on to sauté (I always do this on medium, as I find it gets too hot on high), and add the cooking oil; after a few minutes, add the onion, garlic, and extra vegetables, if using.  Stir vigorously and then add the rice, stir again.  Add the wine, and stir until it is almost all absorbed.

Then add the stock and seasoning, and put the lid on.  Turn to manual and high pressure, and set for 6 minutes.  When it beeps, reduce the pressure manually at once, to stop it overcooking.  Then add the butter and cheese, and stir vigorously so it all comes together in the lovely gloop that is risotto.

I made a bit of a nonsense of tonight's, if I'm honest - it didn't occur to me that the courgettes would add a good 50 ml of fluid to the mix, and so it was too wet, and not the nicest I've ever made.  But it was still edible.  But I shouldn't have added so much stock.

UPDATED 16 March 2021  I decided to make this with a courgette and half a punnet of mushrooms, and, given the amount of liquid those vegetables are apt to render, I reduced the amount of stock to 150 ml.  I was a bit nervous lest it prove too little, but, in fact, it was absolutely perfect!  I think, had I used butternut squash instead of courgette, I would use 200 ml stock, as it doesn't render so much.  But for a courgette and mushroom risotto, 150 ml is perfect!

Caribbean-style bean stew

I have too many Caribbean friends, and there are too many great Caribbean restaurants/take-aways round here, to want to do much in the way of Caribbean-style cooking, but I came across this video on YouTube yesterday, and decided to create my own version of it.  I'm very glad I did; on the other hand, there should probably have been more beans in it!  

• About 3/4 cup dried red kidney beans
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 small carrots
• 1 small leek
• 1 red chilli
• 3 peppardew peppers (which I just happened to have - optional!)
• 1 chunk butternut
• 1 sloosh tomato paste
• 2 tbs cooking oil
• 1 tbs soft brown sugar
• 2 tbs dried coconut milk
• 2 tsp bouillon powder
• Salt, pepper, 1 tsp each dried thyme and dried parsley, Dunn's River ginger/garlic/pimento and everyday seasoning

Soak the beans and bicarbonate in plenty of boiling water for a couple of hours.  Drain and rinse, then put the beans in a pressure cooker with enough water to come about 1-2 cm above them, and cook on high pressure for about 15 minutes, allowing pressure to reduce at room temperature.

Put 1 tbs of the cooking oil into a sauté pan and add the vegetables which you have peeled/chopped/crushed/whatever, as appropriate.  Stir thoroughly, cover, and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes.  Then place the remaining tbs of oil in a heavy-based pan and add the sugar.  Heat this and allow to caramelise, but not burn, and then add the beans with their cooking liquid.  This will froth up, so be very, very careful and only add a bit of the water at first, until it gets under control.  Stir thoroughly, then add the part-cooked vegetables and the rest of the ingredients, and a bit more water if you think it needs it.  Bring to the boil, stir thoroughly, and reduce to a simmer.  Allow to cook, covered, for about 15 minutes while you cook rice to go with it.

Another vegan recipe for the collection!

Bean casserole with halloumi

 One thing about lockdown - I'm posting more recipes!  I didn't during the first lockdown because I was ill myself and not eating or cooking, but we did - and still do - order a takeaway most weeks to support local businesses, and that has inspired several recipes.  This one, however, came from several sources, including the BBC Good Food site (I do recommend this if you're looking for recipes) and Easy Cheesy Vegetarian (whom I also recommend, even though I'm not veggie!).

1/4 cup white cannellini beans

1/4 cup red kidney beans

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

1 courgette, chopped

1 leek, chopped

1 sweet pepper, seeds removed, chopped

1 tin tomatoes

1 sloosh harissa or tomato paste

A little cooking oil

1 small pack spinach

1 pack halloumi cheese.

Seasoning, as liked

Soak the beans either overnight in cold water or for at least an hour in boiling water to which you have added a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.

Turn your Instant Pot on to sauté and add the oil, then when it has heated, add the chopped onion and garlic, and cook for a few minutes until they are beginning to become translucent.  Then add the rest of the vegetables, and allow to cook for awhile (in an ideal world, put a lid on and let them cook in their own steam for a bit, but....

Then add the paste (if you don't like spicy, use tomato paste, otherwise us harissa paste - just a spoonful), the tin of tomatoes and about half the tinful of water, and the drained, rinsed beans.  Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile put the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water over it to wilt it.  When it's cool enough to handle, chop it roughly.

When the Instant Pot beeps, slice the halloumi and dry fry it (detailed instructions here). 

After about 10 minutes, release the remaining pressure and stir the wilted spinach through the stew.  Serve in bowls, topped with the fried halloumi.  I found there was enough stew to do twice, so I may serve the rest either with more halloumi or with sausages or something similar.  We shall see....

I should add that this is one of those recipes you can adapt to suit your own personal tastes and whatever veg you have in the fridge!  I think really only the tomatoes, beans, onions and garlic are compulsory - the rest is up to you!

ETA: In fact, the stew did 3 times; I topped what was left of it with a layer of grated cheese and then some crispy garlic breadcrumbs, and we made that do us twice, although it was a tad mere....