Vegan meals out

we have had several meals out recently, at local (ish)pubs. We have told them ahead that we are vegan, and the following pubs have really done well:

The Rising Sun at Altarnun, excellent meal there today, this has to be the best meal of all we have had, and no fussing about what we could eat, automatic separate vegetables, even a dessert that was not just a fruit salad!

the Maltsters at Chapel Amble, carefully arranged, good food

the pub at St. Teath, whose name escapes me just now! Excellent pre-Christmas meal with chestnutty and aubergine thingy.

Not so good have been the following two comments from places who shall remain nameless:

Asked if any cakes were suitable for vegans in a cafe we love, a while ago - 'no, they all contain chocolate'. Eh? They didn't, aside from the irrelevancy of that comment!

Asked if the soup was suitable for vegans, the kindly guy in a very busy cafeteria style place we like in central Cornwall (which I shall be contacting with a bit of info) went and checked with the chef and came back and told us - 'no, the only thing suitable for vegans today is the Cajun chicken salad'!

Snow? What snow? No, it is just crisp and cold and sunny here! Still one room available over Christmas if you are intersted!

Roasted Mediterranean vegetables with minted cous-cous.

This is infinitely variable, as long as there is lots of flavour, garlic, lemon and herbs, the rest is totally flexible! I have adapted the recipe from the 'Kitchen Doctor'.

serves four

1 red onion, sliced into wedges
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
1 yellow pepper
10 cloves garlic, can leave in skin or not
10 cherry tomatoes
1 aubergine, in chunks
sprig or two thyme, leaves stripped off
same of rosemary
20 pitted olives
joice of one lemon
1 tsp paprika
olive oil

chop and prepare all veggies, pop it all in a dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast, uncovered, 25 mins ish, in oven at 180 c ish.

Meanwhile, prepare couscous

250g plain couscous, place in shallow, wide bowl, to allow steam to escape, add under one pint of boiling stock, leave for 3 mins., then add juice and zest of one lemon, 2 tbsp olive oil, loads of fresh chopped mint, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and leave for 10 mins.

serve, can put roasted pine nuts or hazelnuts on top, or other nuts or seeds. Yum.

Special Christmas offer

We still have one room available for our Christmas break, see previous post for details. If you are thinking it would be nice to get away for Christmas, but that everywhere will be booked up by now, give me a ring. We will offer the room, it is the rooom with private bathroom, normally £275 per person for the four nights , for just £225 per person, this is a saving of £100 for a couple. Or, if you wish to come alone, I will waive the single supplement (normally £100), just charge the original amount, ie £275.

Christmas at Michael House

We currently have only one room (the room with private bathroom) still available for our four day Christmas Special:

Christmas break, 2009


Fancy being looked after and spoiled over the Christmas period? Get away from it all, relax, walk and have tea by the open fire at Michael House, followed by delicious festive meals! We are offering a four night break over Christmas again this year, as follows:

Arrive on Wednesday 23rd December, in time for afternoon tea by the fire and a three course evening meal.

On Christmas Eve, have a leisurely breakfast. Enjoy the day as you choose and afternoon tea will again be served by the fire, and a three course evening meal will follow.

On Christmas Day, another leisurely breakfast will precede a four course Christmas dinner in the early afternoon. Supper will be buffet style.

On Boxing Day, there will be a light lunch after another leisurely breakfast, afternoon tea (if you can manage it!) and a three course supper. Guests will depart on the Sunday morning, after breakfast.

Four nights, partly full board, £300 per person for the en-suite rooms, and £275 for the room with private bathroom. A single supplement will apply.

Bookings for earlier or later dates will be at the normal rate.

Comments from previous Christmas guests:

‘A wonderful way to spend Christmas’

‘What a fabulous way to spend Christmas…a brie and cranberry soufflé to die for…thanks for all the cosseting and pampering – we really needed it’

We have availability over the coming weekend, and there will be a free extra hour. We very generously will not be charging for this!

I do love the extra hour, but, oh I so hate the early darkness that results.

Next week, half term, we are very busy but have the odd room available and the following weekend is free so far. I will nto be cooking on the evening of Saturday 31st, as we have our Treknow Festival of Lanterns, which should be fun, do come down and join in. I have pestered for veggie sausages etc., so need people here to eat them up, or I will get told off for making a fuss and then not eating them!

Availability

The sun is shining, the forecast for the next few days is not bad, but the guest house is empty! If you are thinking of a few days in Cornwall, hope to see you! The half term week - 26th onwards, is filling rapidly though, but there is still some availability.

spice crusted tofu with maple glaze

this is from Veggie Chic, by Rose Elliot, adapted by me!

serves four

1 tbs. paprika - Rose says three, but this is a lot of paprika!
3tsp. ground cumin
3tsp. ground coriander
1 and a half tsp. salt
3, 8 oz packs firm tofu, drained
6 tbs olive oil
9 tbs. boiling water - I leave this out altogether, it takes too long to evaporate I find, let me know what you think!
6 tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 and a half tbs. maple syrup
2 oz. toasted pinenuts, to sprinkle over the top, if wished

mix spices in a bowl and spread, with the salt, on a large platter.

cut the tofu into fingers, aprox four or six per packet

coat the tofu in the spices on all sides

heat the olive oil in a large pan, cook the tofu for four- five minutes on each side

mix the water if using and the maple syrup and lemon juice together. Pour over the tofu. it is supposed to disappear very fast, leaving a glaze, but i find it takes a while!

Serve immediately, with the pinuts sprinkled over. Yum. Experiment with this recipe.

Quinoa, almond and caper filled peppers

This recipe has been requested, is quite yummy, and unusual, not the familiar way to stuff a pepper! I have adapted it from a recipe I found on the internet for a stuffed tomato! So, other vegetables can be used.

measurements are very approximate - I just bung it all together, and it varies, but this is part of the delight!

for four people:

approzimately half a cup of quinoa, I like the red one. Cook this in three times the volume of water, for about 20 minutes.

Take the tops off four smallish peppers (preferably not green ones), remove the seeds and keep the 'lids' with the peppers. Make sure the peppers can stand up, slice a little off the base if necessary! Boil for approx five minutes in water, drain and cool.

meanwhile, chop and cook an onion in a little oil - I use sunflower oil.

Chop up a handful of almonds, mix with the onion, and add about a tablespoonful of capers, and a similar amount of currants.

mix all ingredients, pop in the peppers, put the tops on, drizzle with olive oil and place in an ovenproof dish and cook in a medium oven for 20 minutes.

Serve with rich tomato sauce:

one tin tomatoes in tomato juice, chopped

some garlic - 2 or three cloves

approx. one tbs. olive oil

a couple of sundried tomatoes, chopped

a splosh of red wine

herbs if you like

cook this gently for as long as possible - one hour is fine.

whizz in liquidiser briefly.

Serve with fresh vegetables of different colours and roast potatoes. looks good and tastes

yummy! I even found a photo, but it doesn't have the sauce