Newcastle Eats - The Post Box Ponteland

The Post Box up in leafy Ponteland is a bit of a rainy Tuesday haunt for myself and Kris.  For some reason or another, whenever I wake up to pouring rain I always seem to suggest the drive up to the pretty little village near Newcastle. Maybe it's become ingrained in my mind as the first two times we visited it was a bit stormy, so when I opened my eyes to grey skies and the pitter patter of rain I knew there was only one place I wanted to go.

There's one big reason both myself and Kris are big fans of The Post Box, and that is their homemade veggie sausages. Oh my lord are they good!  Normally I would never dream of passing up a meaty sausage in favour of the veggie variety, but The Post Box have completely swayed me. Apparently the recipe is a well guarded secret and I can see why.  From what I can gather it seems to be a mixture of leek, onion, cheese and mashed potato rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. I mean, if that's not getting your mouth watering like a faucet then I dunno what will.

For the purposes of pictorial variety we decided only one of us could order the vegetarian breakfast, we flipped a coin and I lost. Woe is me. Still, I wasn't short of options.  Torn between The Post Box Eggs (their take on eggs Benedict with pesto, hollandaise and haloumi) and the hash bowl I decided on the latter, it was the chorizo that won me over here.

The bill came to just over £20 for two meals, two hot drinks and a large orange juice, which I think is pretty reasonable considering how delicious everything was. I left with a very full tummy and plans to return very soon.  Anyone with as much halloumi on the menu as The Post Box is always going to be in my good books.

The Post Box,
11 Main Street,
Ponteland,
Newcastle Upon Tyne,
NE20 9NH

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Chickpea & Chili Veggie Burgers

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have noticed that I enjoy a good burger.  They're my biggest weakness. I can be on the biggest health kick ever, but I crumble like a cheap Christmas card the second someone mentions burger and fries . Despite being president of the burger fan club, I hardly ever make them at home, and I certainly never even attempted to make a veggie burger.  I always thought it was best left to the professionals,  I was wrong. These chickpea chili burgers are some of the best veggie burgers I've ever had. Kinda like a cross between falafel and a burger, you can style them up however you like. Smothered in mayo and ketchup or maybe slathered in houmous and tzatziki. You can't go wrong!

These burgers freeze perfectly, so depending on the size of your food processor you can double up on the mixture and pop some patties in the freezer for another time. I've got six more just sitting, waiting for a rainy day. 

So, why not celebrate national burger day by whipping up a batch of these delicious chickpea chili burgers? Even the most hardened carnivore won't miss the meat.  

I simply can't wait to start experimenting with different combinations.  What's your favourite burger? I'm always looking for inspiration.

Chickpea Chili Burgers

Ingredients:

• 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp hot paprika
• 1 red chili, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 1 small bunch coriander, chopped
• 1 large, free range egg
• 80g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• salt and pepper
• 4 brioche buns, toasted
• 1 tomato sliced
• 1 little gem lettuce
• 4tbsp houmous
• 4tbsp red coleslaw
• 4 slices of cheese
• Drizzle of chili sauce

Cooking Directions:

1. Place the chickpeas, cumin, paprika, chili, half the coriander, the egg and some seasoning into the bowl of a food processor and whizz up to a chunky paste. Scrape into a bowl and mix in the breadcrumbs and the diced onions. Form into four burger patties and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot then turn the heat down to medium low. Fry the burgers for 5 minutes on each side. To serve, slather a tbsp of houmous on the bottom bun, top with a leaf of lettuce followed by the burger, slice of cheese, tbsp of coleslaw and a drizzle of chili sauce. Sprinkle with the left over coriander and sandwich with the top bun.

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Fully Loaded Nachos

Isn't it just the worst when you're sat in a bar, waiting for a huge plate of nachos to arrive? Dreaming of lashings of fresh guacamole, mountains of melted cheese, cascading mounds of pico de gallo.  You're drooling right about now, aren't you? You're so ready for this meal, you could burst, then the waiter plops down the saddest plate of crisps you've ever seen. Store bought guac, jarred salsa and woe betide, disgusting gritty cheese sauce.  What's the point in life, why would you do something like that to the majestic nacho?!  Well, screw that, make your own and never be disappointed again.

It might seem like a lot of work, making your own guacamole and pico de gallo but trust me, it's worth it and hardly takes any time at all.   Plus, did I mention it's delicious and a million times better than store bought?

For some strange reason some people aren't big fans of coriander or jalapenos, Weird right?  So don't feel like you have to cover your nachos in the green stuff.  I absolutely love it so added a tonne at the end. Not only does it taste freaking amazing but it makes your nachos look bloody mouthwatering!

P.S. little tip, never EVER put lime in Blue Moon. I learned that the hard way, orange slices only. 

Fully Loaded Nachos

Ingredients

• For the Pico De Gallo :
• 3 tomatoes deseeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion finely chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped
• 1tbsp chopped coriander
• salt & pepper


• For the Guacamole :
• 1 large, ripe avocado
• 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped
• 1tbsp lime juice
• salt & pepper


• To Assemble the Nachos :
• 1 bag lightly salted tortilla chips
• 150g grated cheese (your choice)
• 1 tin black beans, drained and rinsed
• 150ml sour cream
• 1tbsp chopped coriander
• 1 jar pickled jalapenos

Cooking Directions

1. First of all, make the pico de gallo but mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.
2. For the guacamole, place all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Check the seasoning and set aside.
3. To assemble the nachos, spread half of the bag of tortilla chips over a large ovenproof plate or tray and sprinkle with half of the grated cheese and half of the black beans. Top with the remaining nachos, cheese and beans, place into a preheated oven (170°C) for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Dollop spoon fulls of the pico de galo, guacamole and sour cream on top of the nachos and sprinkle with chopped coriander and pickled jalapenos.
4. Serve with an ice cold beer and a good film.

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Classic Hummus

Sometimes the simplest meal is the best, when Summer rolls around I can happily sit in the garden and devour a tub of hummus with a loaf of crusty bread.  I could eat gallons of the stuff, plain or flavoured, I'm an equal opportunity hummus lover.  I have to admit, usually I'm fairly lazy and just treat myself to a premade pot whenever I'm at the supermarket but when the weather is nice and I have an afternoon free to relax with a good book I like to make my own.  I really have no excuse, it's so very easy and much more delicious than the store bought version. 

Once you've mastered this plain, no frills hummus you can start experimenting.  Add in all kinds of weird and wonderful flavours to your pot of loveliness.  My favourite is red pepper and jalapeno or sweet potato, utterly devine.

If you prefer a creamier, smooth hummus you can peel your chickpeas.  This adds about 20 minutes to your preparation but results in the silkiest hummus around.  I rarely do this, but sometimes it is nice, as a treat.

Classic Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 400g tin of chickpeas
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 2tbsp tahini
• 1/4tsp ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1tsp salt
• paprika and olive oil for sprinkling

Cooking Directions

1. Pop all of your ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blitz into a smooth paste. Scoop your hummus out and into a bowl, swirl the top with a spoon for a bit of jazz then drizzle with a little extra oil and sprinkle with paprika.
2. Serve with veggies, flat breads or whatever you have around.

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Stove Top Vegetarian Lasagna

I'm always on the search for a good, simple weeknight meal that can be knocked up in less than no time. This Stove Top Vegetarian Lasagna certainly falls into that category, you'll never believe how easy it is to make.  You'll have this piping hot dish on the table in less than 40 minutes and feel super smug at the mountains of veg hidden within the folds of pasta.  The best thing about this dish, is it's cooked entirely on the hob.  No baking for hours on end, just 30 minutes on the gas burner and you're good to go. What a treat!

I absolutely love making this lasagna, it's such an undemanding dish and can be customised with whatever veg you have lying around.  My favourites are mushroom, peppers, courgettes and aubegine. 

If, like me, you have a bit of a weakness for crispy cheese, you can pop the lasagna under the grill for a few minutes before serving but it's completely up to yourself. There's no need to turn the oven on at all. Perfect for when the nights get warmer and the thought of switching on the oven fills you with dread.

Stove Top Vegetarian Lasagna
(Recipe addapted from Two Peas and their Pod)

Ingredients

• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 courgette, chopped
• 250g mushrooms, sliced
• 1 aubergine, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2tsp dried basil
• 1/2tsp oregano
• 5 lasagna sheets
• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes with herbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 125g ricotta cheese
• 150g mozzarella
• 25g Parmesan, grated

Cooking Directions

1. In a large casserole dish with a lid, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, pepper, courgette, mushrooms and aubergine, and cook for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
2. Snap the lasagna sheets into large pieces and fit them into the casserole dish, overlapping and piling them up a bit. Pour tomatoes over the pasta sheets making sure all the pasta is covered with the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium and cover the dish with a lid. Cook for 25 minutes.
3. Remove the lid and dot ricotta cheese around the dish, cover with torn chunks of mozzarella and replace the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes until the cheese has melted. If you like a crispy top pop the dish under a preheated grill for 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and delicious. Serve piping hot with grated Parmesan cheese.

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Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Vegan baking used to have such a stigma surrounding it.  People automatically assumed because a cake is vegan it wouldn't be good, they were constantly passed over in the bakery and always ended up in the bin. That was until I discovered this recipe, and oh my god is it good! You seriously need to try this vegan chocolate raspberry cake to believe it, so moist and gooey. It really is something else.

I whipped up this cake and tested it out on the Pet Lamb counter and couldn't believe the response. Never has a cake sold as fast as this one. Everyone was obsessing over it regardless of their diet, in fact I think the majority of people buying slices were non-vegan.

The best thing about this cake is there's no weird and wonderful ingredients that call for a trip to the local health food store, everything can be bought at any supermarket and if you enjoy baking you'll probably have most of the ingredients to hand anyway.  Make sure your spread is certified vegan, I used Pure but any brand will work perfectly, and you're ready to roll.

Let me know if you'd like to see more dairy free, vegan baking on here. I loved whipping this baby up!

Vegan Chocolate and Raspberry Cake
Recipe adapted from Veggie Desserts

Ingredients

• For the cake :
• 600ml unsweetened soy milk
• 1tsp lemon juice
• 300g vegan spread
• 125g golden syrup
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 550g self raising flour
• 1tsp espresso powder
• 60g cocoa powder
• 1tsp baking powder
• 100g raspberries


• For the frosting :
• 200g vegan spread
• 450g icing sugar
• 30g cocoa powder
• splash unsweetened soy milk
• raspberry jam
• raspberries to decorate

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 175C and line two 9" springform cake tins with baking parchment.
2. In a large jug combine the soy milk and the lemon juice, stir and set aside to curdle.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer whip the vegan spread, golden syrup and caster sugar together till nice and creamy. Turn the mixer down to the lowest setting and add in the milk, flour, cocoa, coffee and baking powder. Mix until fully combined, stir through the raspberries until evenly distributed.
4. Divide the batter between the prepared tins and bake for 30-35 minutes and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before releasing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. To make the frosting whip the vegan spread, icing sugar and cocoa powder in the bowl of an electric mixer. Wrap a tea towel around the top of your mixer to stop the mess. If your frosting is too stiff add a tiny splash of soy milk to loosen.
6. Spread a generous layer of frosting over one half of the cake followed by a good splodge of good quality raspberry jam. Top with the other cake, frost the top and decorate with fresh raspberries. 

I’m sharing this recipe with the blog challenge  #WeShouldCocoa with Tin & Thyme.

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Homemade Vegetarian Gyoza

I've wrote about my undying love for gyozas before, nothing has changed. I still eat copious amounts of the blighters and I still have a warm fuzzy feeling when I have a freezer full.  The only thing that has changed is my house is now half vegetarian. Since I don't want to leave my poor boyfriend out of my frenzied gyoza eating sessions I decided to whip up some sans-meat. 

In fact, these homemade asparagus and tofu gyozas aren't just vegetarian, they're also vegan friendly.  The best thing about these little dumplings of joy is they freeze perfectly.  Simply freeze them in on layer before transferring them into freezer bags, you never know when an unexpected guest may drop by.  Plus, the kudos you'll get for steaming up a big batch of dumplings is amazing, nobody will believe you made these seemingly complex little parcels.

I get my gyoza wrappers from the frozen section of my local Asian supermarket, along with any of the harder to find veggies and sauces. They really are a total treasure trove of interesting ingredients, I could get lost for hours meandering through the colourful isles.  If you're in the Newcastle area, I recommend HiYoU, it's my go to.

Don't forget your dumpling press if, like me, you can't hack the fiddly folding process. I'm just too damn impatient, I'm sure I'll learn one day.

I used Cauldron Marinated Tofu in this recipe as there's no need to press it. Saves so much time and mess.

These dumplings are adapted from The Part Time Vegetarian cookbook. I cannot recommend this book enough for multi-diet households. Filled with vegetarian and vegan recipes with little notes on how to change it if you're partial to a bit of meat.  I have to say, it's one of my favourite cookbooks of last year.

Asparagus and Tofu Gyoza

Ingredients

• For the filling :
• 200g asparagus, thinly sliced into rounds, tips removed and set aside
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 2.5cm root ginger, grated
• 150g tofu, pressed and finely chopped
• 2tbsp light soy sauce
• 1tsp sesame oil
• good pinch of salt and pepper


• For the dipping sauce :
• 4tbsp light soy sauce
• 1tbsp chinese black vinegar or balsamic
• 1tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2" piece of root ginger, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced


• For the gyoza :
• 25 gyoza wrappers
• 1tbsp vegetable oil for frying
• 1/2 red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced

Cooking Directions

1. Mix together all of the ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
2. Mix all of the filling ingredients together apart from the asparagus tips. Slice the tips in half lengthways and set aside.
3. Place 1tbsp of the filling into a gyoza wrapper, mosten the edge and fold in half, pleeting the edges. Or, if you have a dumpling press, place the wrapped into the press, pop your filling in the middle and fold. Repeat until you have used up all of your filling.
4. Pour your vegetable oil into a large frying pan with a lid and place over a medium heat. Place 10 gyoza, flat side down, in the pan and fry for 2 minutes until the bottoms are crisp and brown. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining dumplings.
5. Once everything is fried, place all the dumplins back in the pan in an even layer (do this in two batches if they don't all fit), sprinkle over the reserved asparagus tips and pour over 4tbsp water and quickly cover with the pan lid. Steam for 3 minutes and remove from the pan.
6. Serve with the asparagus tips, chopped chilli and the dipping sauce.

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Spicy Tofu Ramen

There is nothing more comforting than a big bowl of steaming hot ramen on a cold day.  Granted we're still waiting for that beloved Autumn chill up in Newcastle, but that won't stop me willing the leaves to turn amber and the nights to draw in dark.  I long for hats, jumpers and cosy mittens. Long walks in the brisk Autumn air and settling down in front of an old movie with a huge bowl of spicy tofu ramen.

Since our household became mostly meat free (I still sneak some animal into my portions from time to time), I've really came to enjoy tofu.  Almost to the point where I don't miss the meat in most of our favorite meals.  I actually prefer these little cubes of beancurd in fajitas to chicken these days, I never thought I'd say that!  

While I am enjoying eating tofu, preparing it is a bit of a ball-ache. Pressing out  the excess liquid is a task I can do without after a hard day at work.  That's where Cauldron* marinated tofu pieces come in. Pre-squeezed, pre-chopped and pre-marinated, they're my little lifesaver.

There's one thing you simply must not skip when making this ramen, and that is the soft boiled egg.  Yes, peeling a soft boiled egg is as close to hell as you can get but I promise it's worth the effort.  I'll even go as far as to say it's my favorite part of the whole meal.

Spicy Tofu Ramen
Adapted from Pinch of Yum 
 

Ingredients

• For the Ramen:
• 1 Onion
• 1tbsp Red miso paste or powder disolved in 125ml boiling water
• 1tbsp White miso paste or powder disolved in 125ml boiling water
• 3tbsp Sambal Oelek - chilli paste found in Asian supermarkets
• 6 Garlic cloves
• 2" Piece of ginger
• 3tbsp Mirin
• 2tbsp Olive oil
• 1tbsp Sesame oil 
• For the Broth:
• 1 pack Cauldron marinated tofu pieces
• 1tbsp Olive oil
• 4 Large eggs
• 150g Chestnut mushrooms
• 1ltr Vegetable stock
• 350ml Unsweetened soy milk
• 200g Ramen noodles - Thin egg noodles
• 4 Spring onions

Cooking Directions

1. Put all of the miso paste ingredients and pulse until it forms a thick, spicy paste. You'll only need around half of the mixture so pop the rest in a tupperware box and freeze for a later date.
2. Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a large, deep frying pan and brown the tofu until crispy. Add 3tbsp of the miso paste and stir to coat the tofu. Fry for another minute then tip it out on a plate for later.
3. For the broth, tip the sliced mushrooms into the tofu pan and fry until brown. Add 1tbsp of the miso paste and fry for another minute. Add in the soy milk and stock and bring the broth to a simmer. Place the remaining spicy miso paste in a metal sieve and lower it into the broth. Using a spoon stir the paste around the sieve, pushing the juicy bits through until most of it has dissolved. Discard whatever remains. Don't just tip the paste right into the broth as this will make the soup lumpy and thick, eww! Give the broth a little taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
4. Bring two pans of water to the boil. In one pan cook your ramen noodles to the packets instructions. Pop the 4 large eggs in the other pan, boil for 7 minutes before removing from the pan and running under cold water to stop the cooking process. Peel the eggs carefully and set aside.(I usually do this under running water as the shell comes away a little easier)
5. Divide the cooked noodles between four bowls and top up with the mushroom broth. Top each bowl with a handful of tofu, some chopped spring onions and a boiled egg cut in half. Drizzle with a little sesame oil and enjoy. 

*Not sponsored, just really like the product :)

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