The Recipes - How to make a Mushroom and Fennel Stew Cooked in Cider Vegan? cider?

 This recipe started out in a cookbook. I thought it had potential. Half of the ingredients though I couldn't source the first time I made it. So I improvised and made it with mixed dried mushrooms etc, and when it was finished it tasted gorgeous. So I thought next time I will make it and obtain the real ingredients. When I did do this , the taste was SO bland! I wouldn't have entertained it. So it was by fate alone that this recipe saw the light of day at all here. The dried mixed mushrooms with their different textures give it a very beef like casserole appearance, and they also provide a similar chewiness. This is one of the special dishes and it just goes so great with some mashed potatoes, for a traditional Sunday dinner style meal.  You could serve it up with new potatoes instead, and you can also have it with chips as featured here!! When it is cooked the alcohol content disappears, so you could finish up the meal with the leftover Cider as the side drink!

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The Recipes - How to make a quick and easy Mushroom Pilau

This mushroom pilau is like a mini biryani style dish. It is made with basmati rice, mushrooms etc, curry paste and all topped off with a chopped up omelette. This dish is so simple to make and quick too. It is a really good tasting Indian style dish, and you could even add a curry sauce to it if you wanted. Vegans can leave out the omelette and it still tastes good!! 

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The Recipes - How to make a One Pot Vegetarian/Vegan Chili

 A friend of mine made a version of this for me and I enjoyed it so much I asked for the recipe. This uses mainly food cupboard and supermarket ingredients, and though the ingredient list looks quite long it isn't really, as this one pot not only feeds a crowd but you can freeze some of it too, or serve it in jacket potatoes with a sprinkling of cheese on, and it really is delicious. It is even good with rice as pictured here. Everyone who has tried this chilli  really enjoyed it, and, if you serve it with chips and make a chip butty you can dip it in the juices and again it really has an amazing taste. Do try it if you haven't already and you will not be disappointed! The chip butty way is my favourite, and I always make my chips in the deep fat fryer....

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the Recipe - How to make an Aubergine, Courgette and Green Pepper Ratatouille (Vegan friendly)

We made the Ratatouille which is a traditional French dish, because it is good to diversify and try other cultures' food. Here we used green pepper, onion, aubergine, courgette, tomatoes and fresh oregano. Oregano grows well in this country in summer and we have some of it growing ourselves in the back garden in a tub. It is not so easy to source in the supermarkets, it's more of a public market herb, and sometimes you can order it from them if they haven't got it in as I have done previously. This meal has quite a sharp taste with the oregano, and a slightly bitter one too. Different coloured peppers would give vastly different tastes to this recipe. Here we served it with rice, but you could also put it in a jacket potato.

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The Recipes - How to make a Proper Cheese and Onion Pie

Cheese and onion pie is a British institution just like fish and chips! You can definitely tell this as this recipe is my most viewed - by over 100,000 people! I tried a few recipes to make this and realised that with the addition of water it makes the pie more moist, so you can have it without a sauce. The milk brushed over makes it brown evenly too. My daughter has this with mashed potatoes and beans, but you can have it with a side salad, with chips and beans, or new potatoes and other vegetables like carrots, cabbage or green beans perhaps. I prefer the ready made pastry here but I have sometimes made my own and it has been just as good. This doesn't really work with any other cheese but mature, and extra mature cheddar.  You could try it with filo pastry too for a lighter pie if you like. Fussy guests never refuse this, and even ask for more....

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The Recipes - How to make a Cheesy Mash - get your kids to eat onions without knowing!

Cheesy mash - this is real comfort food. Serve it with a big helping of baked beans for a night in by the fire! It's got to be made with mature cheddar cheese too, and onions chopped up really fine. It is also a great way to get the children to eat onions without knowing! You can also do this as a tray bake for a party with a large pan of baked beans. My daughter was also an onion hater, and once when she was about five years old, we went into Greggs bakery and I said to her tell the lady what you want. Lia said, " Can I have a cheese and onion pasty without the onion please?" And the lady behind the counter looked at me, winked and smiled, and simply said, "Certainly darling" Try not to smile at that....

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The Recipes - How to make an Asparagus Soup (Vegan friendly)

Asparagus soup has a really rich and unique taste if you haven't tried it. It is very good, and it has a nice creamy taste.  It is best to use the young asparagus tips, but it still works with the thicker variety. We always buy two bunches for this soup. Most of the soups start as a basic recipe of potato, onion and your chosen vegetable. Be sure to blend this soup well though, and make sure that the pieces of Asparagus are relatively soft before finishing it off on the stove, otherwise you can end up with little strands of Asparagus stem floating in it. Everyone who has tried this soup likes it. It's mum's favourite too... It's crusty rolls time again! 

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