Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest - SIMON LE BON

In March 1983, Rio earned Duran Duran their first Gold Album award. 

Now 35 years – yes, 35 years – later, Zelda would like to invite Simon le Bon for a meal.

 

Inspired by a lyric from the title track of Rio, Zelda is delighted to serve...

CHERRY ICE CREAM SMILE

Serves 4 (but can easily be reduced to serve fewer or multiplied to serve more).

8 chocolate brownies (home made is definitely best - see below)

260g tin of cherries in syrup

300ml double cream

100g more dark chocolate

1 tub of cherry ice cream (Make it from scratch if you want, but Zelda sees no need to go to all that trouble.)
N.B. Check whether the cherries have stones in and remove them if they do. 

Start by making the brownies: (For quickness, you can skip this step and buy ready-made if you want, but home-made treats add a special something. See here for the recipe.)

Then assemble the dish:

When ready to serve, take four individual bowls or glasses.
Place 2 cherries at the bottom of each bowl.

Add a few crumbs from the brownies.

Then spoon a bit of the juice over the top.
Add a scoop of ice cream. (Don't worry if the glass looks mucky; you can clean it up at the end.)

Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks...

...then layer it over the rest.
Grate the final 100g of dark chocolate and sprinkle it over.

Finish with a cherry.

Unfortunately, Simon couldn't come today, but Dave and Stuie gave it a whirl.

Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest – BOBBY FARRELL

Roberto Alphonse Farrell was born in Aruba in 1949. He later moved to Germany and was chosen to be part of Boney M (although, it now transpires, he sang on few of the studio tracks).

However, Farrell, came into his own in live (or mimed) performances.

Boney M had a string of ‘cheesy’ hits in the 1970s, perhaps the best known of which is Rasputin, a very groovy if factually incorrect retelling of the life of the Russian monk.

Rasputin died on 30^th January, 1916 in St. Petersburg. In 2010, Farrell died in the same city, also on January 30^th. Spooky?

Let’s just look at the Top of the Pops performance of Rasputin…

So, let Zelda turn the clock back and have Bobby for a cheesy 70’s dinner.

70’s STYLE CRISPY PANCAKES

Serves 4

(This makes the standard 'cheesy filling'. You can add other fillings if required.)

For the batter:

125g plain flour

1 egg

Pinch of salt
250ml milk
For the filling:

200g soft cheese
4tbsp milk

150g cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper
(+ other items if required)
For assembly and cooking:
4tbsp oil
2 eggs
100g fine golden breadcrumbs (shop-bought work best)

Begin by making the batter

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.

Make a well and crack in one of the eggs. Then add the milk, whisking to incorporate a bit at a time. Allow the batter to sit for 30 minutes if possible.

Make the pancakes

Heat a little of the oil in a small pan.

Pour in ¼ of the mixture (about a ladleful).

Cook until golden, flipping when ready to cook the other side.

Transfer to a plate.

Repeat until all cooked.

Then make the filling:

Place the cream cheese in a small pan and heat slowly.

Add the cheese and black pepper and stir until you have a thick sauce.

(At this point you can mix in any other cooked ingredients you require, e.g. spring onions or vegetarian bacon pieces.)

Assemble the pancakes:

Take a pancake and lay it flat. Spoon ¼ of the cheese mixture into the centre.

Fold in half and press the edges to seal. (If it does not seal easily, use a little of the remaining egg.)

Repeat with the rest of the pancakes and mixture.

Place the breadcrumbs on a plate and whisk the remaining 2 eggs in a shallow bowl.

Coat each pancake in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Repeat if necessary.

Heat the rest of the oil in a pan and fry each filled pancake for 2-3 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden.

Then place on a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper

Cook in oven for about 10 minutes at Gas 6/ 200°C/ 400°F. 
Then turn each one over and cook for a further 10 minutes.

You should now have lovely crispy pancakes which remind you of the packaged convenience food of the 1970s, but will be much better for you! 

Bobby and I will eat ours with some sweetcorn and spring onions. 

SODA BREAD

500g wholemeal plain flour

2tsp salt

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

400ml whole milk

1 lemon

2tsp honey

Mix the flour and salt with the bicarbonate of soda.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the milk. (This will turn it into buttermilk.) Stir the honey onto this.

Pour the liquid into the dry mixture and stir well to make a sticky dough.

Flour the work surface and tip out the dough. 

With floured hands, shape it onto a rough ball.

Put flour on a baking tray and transfer the dough onto it. Then, with a large sharp knife, make a deep cross on the top.

Bake in the oven at Gas 6/ 200°C/ 390°F for 35 – 40 minutes.

Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Then slice.

Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest - MR TOAD

After various shenanigans concerning the theft of a motor car, Toad is sent to ‘a dank and noisome dungeon’ where he petulantly refuses to eat. Luckily for him, the gaoler’s daughter takes pity on him and decides to tempt him with some Bubble and Squeak.

'Now, cheer up, Toad,' she said, coaxingly, on entering, 'and sit up and dry your eyes and be a sensible animal. And do try and eat a bit of dinner. See, I've brought you some of mine, hot from the oven!'

It was bubble-and-squeak, between two plates, and its fragrance filled the narrow cell. The penetrating smell of cabbage reached the nose of Toad as he lay prostrate in his misery on the floor, and gave him the idea for a moment that perhaps life was not such a blank and desperate thing as he had imagined…

So if Mr Toad came to Zelda's, she hopes she could inspire him again. These individual cakes are a bit more 'refined' but I hope that would appeal to his arrogance, too.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK CAKES       

                                

Left-over cooked potatoes, mashed.

Cooked cabbage, chopped

(You need an approximate ratio of 2 potato: 1 cabbage)

I onion, chopped

Salt and black pepper

1- 2tbsp plain flour

3tbsp olive oil.

Place the mashed potato and cabbage together in a bowl.

Heat 1tbsp of the oil and fry the onion until lightly browned.

Add to the potato mixture. Mix well and season 

Shape into cakes.

Put the flour on a plate and coat each cake.

Heat the rest of the oil and add the cakes.

Cook all until browned on each side and heated through. (I usually do two at a time but you can do four in a large enough pan.)

Drain on absorbent paper if needed.  

Serve hot.

Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest – THOMAS SHELBY

To be fair, The Peaky Blinders don’t seem to eat much, preferring to spend their time drinking and fighting. This, however, is based on an old Black Country recipe which Zelda thinks that the charismatic leader, Thomas Shelby, might enjoy if she managed to get him to sit down for long enough (or it would make a good snack to take on one of his 'jobs').

This veggie version of Brummie Bacon Cakes was always going to include my favourite fake bacon…

BRUMMIE 'BACON' CAKES

1tbsp oil

4 rashers of vegetarian bacon

225g self-raising flour

25g butter, cut into small pieces

75g mature cheddar, grated

160ml milk

1tbsp tomato ketchup

½tsp salt

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the bacon. Then drain and cut bacon into small pieces.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and add the butter. Rub between fingertips until the texture of breadcrumbs. 

(This can be done in a blender if preferred – just put back in a large bowl afterwards.)

Add the bacon bits and 25g of the cheese.Then pour in the ketchup and 150ml of the milk and mix all together well to make a dough.
Flour the work surface and shape the dough into a thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges.


Place the wedges on a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper, coat with the rest of the milk and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Bake at Gas 4/ 180°C/ 350°F for about 25 minutes.