Vegan meal (Ottolenghi) Noor's black lime tofu; Mashed sweet potato with yoghurt and lime; + Onion bhajis; Roasted swede fries with cauliflower puré (Vegetarian, vegan alternative); Cauliflower and broccoli soup; Savoury muesli garnish; Herring feast - Fennel oil preserved herrings, herrings in garlic dressing, pickled broccoli stems, roasted beetroot majonnaise, salt sticks and savoury muesli garnish; Baby turnip au gratin with black salsify and apple compote.

Pre-heat the oven 180°C

Toss the swede chips in the oil and season well with pepper and salt. Spread out on a baking tray lined with parchment.

Bake for 20 mins. or until golden.

Cauliflower puré

Place the cauliflower florets in a saucepan and half cover with cream. Simmer, with a lid on for 10 mins, or until soft.

Remove the cauliflower using a slotted spoon and palce in a container suitable for stick blending (a food processor will also work). Add the blue chese and blend to a fine puré. Sprinkle with a few grinds of pepper and add salt if required - to taste.

(Reserve the cream for cauliflower and broccoli soup - see next recipe or blog).

(Reserve ½ dl of the cauliflower puré for the cauliflower and broccoli soup - see next recipe or blog).

Ingredients:

½ dl cauliflower puré (see Swede roasted fries blog)

Thick cream reserved from cooking the cauliflower in Swede roasted fries (see blog) or 2½ dl thick cream (plant based will also do)

½ litre vegetable stock

2 heads of broccoli divided into individual florets

Seasoning

(Savoury) Muesli for garnishing (see blog)

Method:

Boil the broccoli florets in the stock for 8 minutes

Reduce the heat to very low and add the cream and puré

Stick blend for a few seconds, some pieces of the broccoli should remain intact.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve topped with a garnishing of savoury muesli (see blog or next recipe)

Ingredients:

10 (stalks only) stems of fresh dill, finely chopped

½ dl crushed flax seeds

1 dl sunflower seeds

½ dl pumpkin seeds

½ dl spelt or oat flakes

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cumin or dill seeds

Method:

Mix the ingredients and spread out on a parchment lined baking tray. Bake at 200°C for 6 minutes.

Store in an air-tight container once cooled.

Preheat the oven to 250°C

Peel and finely slice the carrots, shallots, garlic and fennel. Use 30ml of the oil to fry the vegetables along with the dried spices (not salt). Add the juice of the lemon to the pan along with the rest of the oil. Keep the oil and veg. mixture down to 80°C for 15 mins. The aim is to infuse the oil, not to fry the vegetables. Remove from the heat and stir in the dill.

Oil the inside of a shallow, ovenware dish (approx 30cm x 25 cm).

Lay the herrings, skin-side up, such that they do not come into contact with each other. Bake for 5 minutes.

Take a 1 litre preserving jar and layer a single row of herings, followed by the fennel oil/veg. and repeat until the preserving jar is full and the herrings totally covered.

Once the oil has cooled, fit an air-tight lid and store in the fridge for 24hrs. before serving. The herrings will keep at least 5 days.

Serve topped with savoury muesli garnish (above, or see blog) and beetroot mayonnaise (next).

Ingredients:

1 whole, med-large sized beetroot (washed)

1 dl (vegan) mayonnaise

Salt to taste

Method:

Bake the beetroot at 180°C for 70-80 minutes - until it is soft through. Once it has cooled enough to handle, peel the beetroot, chop into about 10 pieces and then blitz to a fine puré using a stick blender.

Whisk the puré and mayonnaise together and season to taste.

Ingredients:

2 dl 10% pickling vinegar (4 dl 5% vinegar leaving out the water)

250g sugar

3 dl water

5 stems of fresh dill, finely chopped

2 heads of broccoli (stems only) [See cauliflower/broccoli soup recipe for using up the broccoli florests]

Method:

Whisk the vinegar, sugar (and water if using) until the sugar has dissolved. Pour into a plastic container (with a lid). Using a potato peeler, cut the broccoli stems into slithers and add them to the pickling liquid along with the dill. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hrs.

They will keep for a week in the fridge.

Ingredients:

40g butter

0,5 dl of milk

10g fresh yeast

1,5 dl plain flour

2 eggs

"Finger" Salt flakes

Method:

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the milk and wait until the liquid reaches tepid (37°C). Whisk in the yeast.

In a bowl, combine the flour, 1 egg and the butter/milk. Kneed the dough for 3 minutes and then leave covered to rise for 20 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Roll the dough out to a 30cm x 10 cm sheet. Cut 30, 10cm x 1 cm strips and lay them out on a parchment lined baking tray, making sure they don't touch each other. Cover with a tea-towel and leave to rise for 15 minutes.

Whisk the remaining egg, brush the sticks with the egg and sprinkle liberally with finger salt flakes.

Bake for 8 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Once cooled, store in an air-tight container for up to two weeks.

For the garlic sauce:

1 whole head of garlic ( I have also made this using a whole head of black garlic-delicious!)

1 tbl rapeseed, canola or sunflower seed oil

Juice of ½ lemon

1 large shallot onion very finely chopped

1 dl mayonnaise

1 dl sour cream

1 dl Gräddfil - 12% fat soured milk culture (suomeksi kermaviili)

3 ml worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

Herrings

De-skin the fillets, cut them in halves and place in a shallow dish.

Combine the vinegar, sugar and water; sprinkle the salt over the fillets and pour over the pickling liquid. Shake the dish to fully cover the fillets. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hrs.

Garlic sauce

(Leave the first step out if using black garlic)

First step - Cut the top off the garlic and massage the garlic with the oil. Bake at 200°C for 18 minutes. Once cooled...

Second step - squeeze out the garlic from the cloves and smash using the back of a fork.

Thoroughly combine all the ingredients with the garlic, and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Strain the herrings, line the base of a preserving jar with a layer of the sauce, followed by a single layer of herrings and repeat until all the herrings are used and covered.

Store in the fridge for 24 hrs. before serving. The herrings will keep a week in the fridge.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Peel the turnip and cut into ½cm slices. Toss in a bowl with the oil.

Arrange the slices on to a baking tray lined with parchment. sprinkle each slice with the lavender,  herbs, salt and flax seeds.

Bake for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with the grated cheese and bake a further 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

For the salsify

Peel the salsify, cut into 10 cm lengths and place in enough water to cover together with the lemon juice (this stops the salsify from discolouring). Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, strain the salsify and add to the boiling water. Count 2 mins. once the water comes back to the boil. Strain and chill immediately under cold, running water.

Before serving, fry the salsify in a little oil, until golden.

For the apple compote

Put all the ingredients with the exception of the thyme into a saucepan and boil for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the finely chopped thyme.

The compote will keep for weeks in the fridge in an airtight container.