Porridge

I rather like porridge, with a dribble of honey and a spoonful of mixed seeds sprinkled over it. I truly enjoy real porridge: made with oatmeal, as the Scots know it – but am not so fond of that made with rolled oats. Oatmeal seems to be unavailable in a number of places: it looks like cream-coloured, coarsely ground corn and is sometimes described as ‛steel-cut’: if you can get it, try it instead of the rolled oats in the following recipe. Why it’s not used more frequently and is not more generally available, I don’t know, because it is more compact, cooks more quickly, produces a smoother result and tastes better than rolled oats.

Quick-cooking oats do not have the flavour and texture of jumbo oats. If you’re eating porridge simply as belly timber, use the quick oats; if you enjoy it, use traditional, slow-cooking oats.

Serves 2

⅔ cup oatmeal OR 1 cup rolled oats

2 cups water

pinch of salt

• Put the ingredients into a small saucepan and mix.

• Bring to the boil, stirring constantly.

• Turn down the heat as low as possible and cook, very gently, for about three minutes (more like ten for jumbo oats). Whatever you do, don’t burn it. It will taste dreadful if you do.

• Pour into bowls and eat immediately, with some milk and either salt (for the purists) or brown sugar (for most other people).

Variations:

• Try treacle, golden syrup (my dad’s choice), honey or dulce de leche (see recipe) to sweeten it.

• Use cream rather than milk. Who would have thought that porridge could be luxurious? (Yoghurt and porridge do not go together, in my opinion.)

• Add 1/4 cup of raisins with the oats.

• Use 50/50 milk and water to cook it. This makes a much richer version.

• Of course, substitute 2/3 cup of seawater for the fresh.

• Serve with sliced, fresh fruit.

Vegan "Parmesan" (Parmegan)

For many years, I lived with a man who detested cheese and because money was in short supply, I hardly ever bought this treat for myself.  I missed it, but its lack was tolerable, although I really enjoyed eating it when I had a chance.  Then I lived with someone who loved cheese and, moreover, we had a little more money, so we generally had it on board.

When I decided to live on my own in New Zealand, I could finally eat exactly how I wanted to.  However, my budget was again pretty limited and I found that New Zealand, in spite of being awash in dairy cows, has no tradition of its own cheese.  Most of the affordable cheese made here, is a pastiche of Camembert or Brie, of Gouda and Edam and of course, the ubiquitous so-called Cheddar.  I had hoped for so much more, remembering the open markets of my English youth, where I could buy several different versions of my local cheese.  While there is some superb artisan cheese in this country, not only is most of it beyond my financial means, but most of it is beyond my physical means, only being sold in the major cities.  Over recent years, the plight of dairy cattle (particularly calves) and of the planet overall, has inexorably inched me towards veganism.  However, I still succumbed to the lure of Parmesan or Pecorino cheese.  It was a very happy day, therefore, that I stumbled across a vegan alternative on the Internet.

Not only is vegan "Parmesan" a genuinely acceptable alternative to the real thing, it even emulates it sufficiently accurately, that friends have tipped generous amounts of the food I've served them, without even noticing that it's not the 'real thing'.  Often what you taste is what you expect!

Many people use cashew nuts: I prefer Brazil nuts.  (In this blog I am not generally going to discuss the various ethical pros and cons of one nut/grain/legume over another.  Suffice it to say that the worst of them is probably less unethical than most animal products.)  You will need a blender or good mouli-grinder to make this.

Brazil nuts are one of those that tend to go stale quite quickly - like walnuts - so I have assumed that the 'cheese' would also lose its flavour and freshness quickly.  I therefore limit its production to 1/4 cup at a time.  The recipe is so simple that it's extremely easy to make larger quantities.  However, I do find that a small jar will keep happily for at least two or three weeks without refrigeration, which is another of its great virtues.

1/4 cup Brazil nuts 

1 tbsp nutritional yeast 

1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt

 

Method:

• Roughly chop the Brazil nuts into about 1cm pieces
• Put the chopped nuts, the nutritional yeast and the salt into your blender or mouli and process until you get the consistency of finely grated cheese.
• Serve over pasta, etc, as you would Parmesan cheese.

Adjust the salt according to your personal taste.