Recipes – Latitude Post

Nick’s Chocolate, Banana and Pumpkin Brownies

Posted on May 23, 2020 by Nicholas Peart

There are several different ways to make brownies. Before establishing my own recipe, I wanted to create a brownie recipe that wasn’t too butter heavy and I wanted the creative variation of incorporating other whole foods. I use banana a lot in baking, but I have never experimented with pumpkin before. In this recipe, I find that mashed pumpkin blends very well with raw cane sugar and is great when combined with mashed bananas. The banana and pumpkin combo also gives these brownies a delightful gooey-like texture and is a much more healthy substitute to using large quantities of butter.

INGREDIENTS

A good wedge of pumpkin (peeled and cut into cubes)
2 old bananas
1 cup of raw cane sugar
3 eggs
1-1.5 cups of plain flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 small slivers of butter
Cocoa Powder (about one third of a cup)
100 grams of dark chocolate
Rapeseed oil

Instructions:

1) Wash the pumpkin cubes and boil in a pan of water until soft.

2) Drain the water from the pan and then mash the pumpkin.

3) Pour one quarter of a cup of raw cane sugar into the pan and mix well with the pumpkin.

4) In a bowl, mash the two bananas.

5) Then crack and apply the 3 eggs to the mashed bananas.

6) Whisk the eggs and mashed bananas thoroughly until smooth and finely blended.

7) Add the pumpkin mixture to the banana and egg mixture and blend well.

8) Add and stir in the remaining three quarters of the cup of raw cane sugar to the mixture in the bowl.

9) Sieve the flour and baking powder into a separate larger bowl.

10) Add one of the two small slivers of butter to the flour and mix well with your hands until the butter is fully integrated into the flour.

11) Next, mix in the cocoa powder to the flour.

12) Apply the banana, pumpkin and egg mixture to the flour and cocoa and stir in thoroughly

13) Add drizzles of rapeseed oil to the mixture, which will further moisten it and aid in getting all the remaining flour and cocoa at the bottom of the bowl properly blended in.

14) Break the dark chocolate into small pieces and put in a small bowl.

15) Add boiling water to a small saucepan and cook on a reasonably high heat.

16) Put the bowl over the saucepan. The chocolate should slowly melt.

17) Once the chocolate has melted, apply and stir it into the mixture in the large bowl.

18) Use the second small sliver of butter to sufficiently grease a rectangular baking tray. Then line the tray with parchment paper.

19) Preheat an oven at 180 degrees Celsius.

20) Apply all the brownie mixture to the tray and put the tray in the oven to cook for 20 minutes.

21) Take the brownies out of the oven and with a small knife or food stick, prick the deepest part of the cooked brownie mixture. At this stage it is very important that it retains at least a modest layer of goey-ness. However we don’t want the mixture too dry and cake-like. If the mixture is too goey and liquid-like return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes.

Recipe and photo by Nicholas Peart

Nick’s Rustic Vegan Moussaka

Posted on May 22, 2020May 23, 2020 by Nicholas Peart

During the last two months of the COVID related lockdown period, I have been spending some time in the kitchen. I enjoy cooking and find it a theraputic and healing outlet. One of my favourite dishes is the famous Eastern Mediterranean dish moussaka. Making moussaka is a veritable treat and worth the effort. It is one of my favourite foods and my plant-based version of this dish is very filling and healthy. When I first made the original meat version of this dish, I followed a recipe on YouTube by the Greek chef Akis Petretzikis. I like his recipe since I find it rather easy to follow. What’s more, he bakes the aubergines, rather than fries them in oil, which I think is a much healthier alternative. I have incorporated some methods and elements of his recipe to this recipe and of course I have brought my own twist to this delicious dish.

In the original classic moussaka recipe, ground beef is used for the mince. Instead of ground beef, I use lentils. I also add some additional flavours to the mince by using cumin seeds and ground paprika.

The béchamel sauce is normally made using butter, milk and egg yolk. For my recipe, the béchamel sauce is completely plant-based and doesn’t include any dairy products or eggs. My version of the sauce is made simply by using extra virgin olive oil, plain flour and soya milk plus ground nutmeg, salt and ground black pepper for taste and flavours.

Lastly, for the first layer of the dish, I have added sweet sliced potatoes to go with the standard sliced potatoes.

INGREDIENTS

1 large potato
1 large sweet potato
1 red onion
1 large aubergine
2 medium sized courgettes
Fresh or dried thyme
Extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
Salt

For the mince:

2 cans of lentils (or cooked lentils)
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 generous tablespoons of tomato paste
1 red onion (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Vegetable oil
Cumin seeds
Ground paprika
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

For the creamy béchamel sauce:

1 litre of soya milk
Plain Flour
Extra virgin olive oil
Ground nutmeg
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Grease well a normal sized baking dish with oil.

2) Peel and thinly slice 1 large ordinary potato and 1 large sweet potato. Then peel and chop one red onion. Next put the sliced potatoes and chopped red onion into a bowl and drizzle them in extra virgin olive oil and add salt, ground black pepper and fresh or dried thyme.

3) Transfer the potatoes and onion mixture into the baking dish and evenly spread out.

The first layer of sliced potatoes and chopped onions before entering the oven

4) Preheat an oven to 200 degrees Celsius and put the baking dish inside for 20 minutes.

5) Whilst the potatoes and onions are cooking, finely and thinly slice the aubergine. Then put the cut slices into the bowl and generously drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and add salt, ground black pepper and fresh or dried thyme.

6) During the remainder of the time, as the potatoes and onions continue to cook, proceed to finely slice the two courgettes.

7) After 20 minutes remove the baking dish from the oven.

8) Then add to the dish, over the cooked potatoes and onions, the second layer of the sliced aubergines.

The second layer of the sliced aubergines

9) Return the baking dish to the oven and cook for another 20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.

10) Whilst that is cooking, transfer the sliced courgettes into the bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and add salt, pepper and thyme before mixing well.

11) Then for the rest of the time, before taking out the dish again, heat some vegetable oil in a wide and deep pan. Add a sprinkling of cumin seeds to the cooking oil. Then proceed to add the chopped red onion and garlic cloves to the pan and cook on a reasonably high heat for a few minutes.

12) Turn down the heat and add a generous tablespoon of paprika and mix well.

13) Next, add the lentils and two generous tablespoons of tomato paste and mix it thoroughly into the lentils.

14) Then add and stir in the chopped tomatoes.

The lentil mince mix of the dish

15) Add salt and ground black pepper to taste. Keep the lentil mince mix on a very low flame stirring occasionally.

15) By now, the potatoes, onions and aubergines should be ready to take out of the oven.

16) Once the baking dish is out of the oven, add the sliced courgettes over the aubergines and then return the baking dish to the oven and cook for 10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.

The third layer comprising of the sliced courgettes

17) As the courgettes and other vegetables cook, heat a good amount of extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. As the oil cooks, slowly add small teespoons of plain flour to the oil and mix well and thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture becomes like a ball of sticky dough, slowly add a little of the soya milk to the mixture and mix well. Keep repeating this until you end up with a silky textured and creamy-like sauce.

18) Next, add salt and pepper to taste followed by a generous sprinkling of ground nutmeg to further enhance the flavour.

The béchamel should have a silky and creamy texture

19) Once the béchamel sauce is ready, add a couple of generous tablespoons of the sauce to the lentil mince mix and stir in well.

20) When the courgettes are ready, take the baking dish out of the oven.

21) Transfer the whole lentil mix from the pan and smother over the courgettes in the dish.

The fourth layer is made up of the lentil mince mix

The plant based béchamel sauce makes up the final layer

22) Next, scoop all the béchamel from the saucepan and cover over the lentils in the dish.

23) Finally return the baking dish to the oven and cook for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Once the 30 minutes have elapsed, the moussaka should be ready to serve.

Recipe and photos by Nicholas Peart