My culinary adventures (for they are many and varied) twist and turn between the needs of me (a complete meat freak) and my wife (a vegetarian with pescatarian tendancies). What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, no?
Anyway, where possible I try to recreate vegetarian versions of meaty creations. Here I tried a Vegetarian Cobbler. I thought I had already done a beef version on this blog but I can’t find it so I guess that will be a follow up. This veggie version is so wholesome and nutritious its like Mother Teresa got together with the Virgin Mary, invited Florence Nightingale round and they decided this was the best thing to bring to a Pot Luck Party.
The red wine has no place in the ingredients and yet its essential to the creation process
To create Vegetable Cobbler you’ll be needing:
- Carrots
- Swede
- Onion
- Parsnips
- Peas
- Bay leaf
- Mixed herbs
- Stock (I use cubes but if you want to do it right you need to follow Stefan’s method - he’s a bit more professional!)
- Pearl Barley
- White wine
For the cobblers
- Vegetarian suet
- Flour
- Water
First thing get a bloody big knife and hack the hell out of the vegetables, starting with the swede. Different countries call it different things but in the end it’s big, round and purple. Go figure.
Once all the vegetables are chopped up fry them in butter or olive oil in a Dutch Oven (the orange thing is a Dutch Oven isn’t it? – I mean I don’t really know whether it is or not).
Add some pearl barley – not too much because those little beads blow up and take over once they are cooked up. Now add your stock and herbs, including the bay leaf:
Put it in the oven for about three quarters of an hour. Meanwhile get the cobblers ready. Grab the Atora Suet:
Ooh! 30% less fat! That‘ll make a difference…
Create the dumplings as per the packet instructions:
Take the pot out of the oven and pop the dumplings on top:
Now return the pot to the oven. You might want to add some more stock too, especially if you got a bit slap-dash with the pearl barley. Put the lid on for 10 mins and then let it cook in the oven without the lid so those doughy balls go all golden brown. ‘Golden Brown, texture like sun’…blah..de..blah.
Nothing died to create this. Well not directly, as far as I’m aware.
Now serve. Straight up. No condiments. Hearty and wholesome. And damn tasty!
Now lets be clear – this is one seriously juicy dish – it might look a bit dry but those pearly drops of barley hold more moisture than a natural sponge – damn delicious!!
Filed under: Britain, Vegetarian
