I love soup, and although I tend to make my own from scratch if I can, ready-made fresh soup is a good alternative if I’m in a hurry. Plus, as I’ve been meat-free my whole life I’ve never tried a meat soup, so I was quite intrigued to find out what these Quorn ones were like.
I tried the Moroccan soup first. It was pretty tasty, but very similar in taste and style to stews I often cook at home, so I probably wouldn’t rush out to buy it again.
I bought the two soups at the same time, so I froze the Red Thai one to eat at a later date. This may have been a mistake, as when I went to get it out of the freezer a few weeks later, I realised it didn’t actually say anywhere that you could freeze it, I’d just assumed. Woops! I also had to defrost it in a bit of a hurry, so the Quorn pieces disintegrated a little bit but it still tasted really good. I don’t do a lot of Thai style cooking at home and this soup had a really good blend of heat and flavour, so I can see myself trying it again in the near future.
Hello my tiny flying monkeys! Oooh and it’s been ages since I’ve written on me blog! I’d love to say it’s because I have a jetsetting and tremendously busy life style but no. No excuses at all. What a terrible being I truly are! Having said that, if you head on over to our Twitter https://twitter.com/500FaconThings or our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/500ThingsToDoWithFacon you will see that I definitely haven’t forgotten y’all! We’re only a couple of likes away from the big five zero as well.
Enough of this shameless self-promotion, I say! This is a blog about the Better Food Company, the Clifton branch to be precise, which I visited for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The Bristol based independent retailers began as an organic delivery service in 1992 and now operate two stores, one in St Werburghs and the other on Whiteladies Rd. Their aim is to provide local, organic and ethically sourced products and, well they say it better than I ever could on their mission statement page —> http://www.betterfood.co.uk/about-us/our-mission/ It was a bit of a hike for a lazy old sod such as I myself, but definitely worth it. It wasn’t overpriced, the staff were friendly and they had a great selection of weird and wonderful veg alongside a plethora of veggie and vegan delicies despite not being an exclusively veggie store. But what did I get there?
Oh yes, that’s what I look like, in case you were wondering. You probably weren’t though, were you? Me and my collection of squashes, carrots and beetroots.
Those are yellow beetroots in the middle there. Just as much flavour as the regular sort and none of the stains or mess! I used one to make a version of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Chocolate and Beetroot Brownies. Although mine used white chocolate; that and the yellow beetroot made them more of blondies really. The recipe itself lends itself to a very cake-like brownie, but it’s tasty all the same. Those got passed around Lakes Comic Art Festival in Kendal, which I think means they were successful. I can’t take the credit for that recipe of course, but it’s here http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/chocolate-and-beetroot-brownies/ if you fancy trying it.
I bought white, purple and pale orange carrots because why stick with the same old colour? Did you know the common orange carrot as we know it has only existed since the 17th Century? They were bred especially in the Netherlands as a symbol of the House of Orange and the struggle for Dutch independence. I wrote about it for an archaeology paper once and it was on QI so it’s a true fact. They had extraordinary bright and beautiful colours when peeled. I turned most of them into vegetable crisps! Chopped them up very finely with the remaining beetroot, squeezed out some of the moisture with some kitchen towel, drizzled with oil and seasoning then popped in a hot oven for thirty minutes. I think the recipe will need a little fine-tuning, some came out charred and others a little floppy for my liking, but they went well enough with my home-made hoummous! Left over carrot and beetroot bits got turned into a tasty soup base for my squashes.
The green and yellow striped squash on the top left is a harlequin squash, which has sweet and creamy pale yellow/green flesh. I’ll be honest and say I can’t remember what the other two are called…and the internet isn’t giving me any answers, curse you internet! The large pale green one in the centre had mild-tasting, orange flesh while the dark green one on the right yielded brighter, stronger tasting contents. I chucked them in the pan with my carrot/beetroot base. Added a couple of baking potatoes to bulk it up and a sweet potato to complement the flavour, stirred in my special blend of ‘erbs and spices and a good dollop of my favourite stock, Marigold Organic’s Low Salt Vegetable Boullion powder, boiled until tender then mashed up with a blender. Hey, that rhymes! Served with crusty sour-dough bread (sadly not home-made since the untimely demise of Terrence, my little sour-dough) and salad.
EDIT: Thanks to the Better Food Company, who tweeted me after reading this blog to say “the squashes were ‘gem’ (dark green) and ‘crown prince’ (light green) 🙂 ” So now we know.
The non-vegetable haul!
Raspberry jelly crystals by Just Wholefoods! Remember when I told you how much I loved jelly in this post? Probably not as much as Rod Hull though…
Anyway I made it up according to packet instructions, put some pineapple chunks in it, ‘cos you can do that with veggie jelly, and served it with ice-cream. Like I was a child at a birthday party. Hurrah!
Vegetarian Mince with Vegan Gravy by Fry’s Family Foods. I used to buy this mince all the time when I was at university in Sheffield, but I was yet to see it for sale anywhere down south. The mince chunks are larger than one normally finds in veggie mince, the packet even advises you blend them with a hand blender, but I like them as they are! It’s easy to use straight from the pack, just fry up with some sauce from frozen. I’ll be honest, I’ve never used the gravy sachet that comes with it so I can’t comment on that, but the mince is juicy and tender. I used half a pack to make Shepherd’s Pie. It was a bit watery cos I didn’t put enough gravy granules in, but ho hum! Saving the rest for a spag bol, or something equally good.
Speaking of spag bol, that’s Twineham Grange Vegetarian Pasta Cheese by Bookhams on the right there. Why do I need veggie cheese? Well it’s true nowadays most cheese is veggie, except for parmesan which nearly always contains rennet. Which comes from a cow’s stomach. Boo! This cheese is totally veggie friendly and totally tasty as well! So far I’ve just grated some on me pasta, but I foresee parmesan crisps and muffins in the works hmm…
Nut Cutlets by Good Life. I’ve had these a few times before, they’re great as a meat burger replacement or chopped up and added to pasta instead of mince. This time I served them alongside home-made chips and spaghetti hoops.
I also bought, but didn’t manage to photograph before they got eaten, a Clive’s Pies’ Soyaroll and a Quality Foods’ Vegetarian Scotch Egg. The Soyaroll’s vegan pastry was a little bland and tough, but the spicy tasty sosmix inside made up for it. The Scotch Egg was delicious but the filling was very loose around the egg. In my experience that seems to be a common problem with veggie Scotch Eggs. I’ll have to try making my own again…
That’s all for now folks, I’ll be back with a new recipe soon! In the mean time, why not check out some of the folks I’ve mentioned on the links below? Ciao!
If you want any advice on where to buy the best veggie products, cooking tips or just to rant at me that you burnt your facon, feel free to drop me a line at facon500@gmail.com or via facebook.com/500thingstodowithfacon and @500faconthings on Twitter.
500 Things To Do With Facon 