PattyCakes

 

Being unable to effectively digest gluten or dairy proteins, I have had a right old time developing interesting recipes that don’t drive me to boredom. In particular, texture of replacement gluten foods is an important thing to capture, and the long term nature of having to omit otherwise tasty and nutritious yummies for life is quite a cross to bear I can tell you. Karl Marx said “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and I suppose he must be right because I eventually hit on this scrumptious method of getting healthy veggies with some texture, which can be altered to prevent boredom. You could vary this recipe by adding in a tin of Red Kidney beans lightly mashed (to make bean burgers), or nut butters and/ or ground mixed nuts (to make nut burgers). Another variation would be to fry off some seeds such as cumin, fennel, coriader or mustard seeds, or add roasted pumpkin, sesame seeds or flax to the PattyCakes at the mixing stage. This recipe makes 8 or so PattyCakes, which I can make up in advance and last a good few days. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes to prep, and then 30 mins in the oven.

 

Mixed vegetables of any suitable kind, examples: Broccoli, Carrot, Cauliflower, Sweetcorn, Peas, Spinach, Green Beans, etc. These can comprise frozen, tinned, or reg’lr veg.	Chop the veg finely and steam them for circa 20-30 mins depending on how much you want them to mush or remain al dente. Better to chop them first because chopping recently steamed veg is HOT HOT HOT.
125g Mashed Potato Flakes 400ml Boiled Water Large knob of Butter	Once the vegetables are being steamed, prepare the mashed potato & give it a chance to cool down.
¾ tsp salt 1/3 tsp Turmeric 1 heaped tsp Coriander powder 1 heaped tsp Garam Masala 1 tsp Paprika ¼ tsp Ground black pepper	Mix the herbs & add in to the mashed potato. Other herbs could be added, e.g. oregano, Herbes de Provence, garlic or onion powder.
1 small red onion, finely chopped 2 heaped Tbsp Besan (Chickpea Flour)	Once the veggies are steamed, add them in to the mashed potato and mix like fury. Add in the ingredients opposite. If you don’t have Besan, you could try Lentil Flour, Brown Rice Flour, or any type of wheat flour if you are ok with gluten foods. If the mixture doesn't bind, add an egg.
Cook at 200OC for 30 minutes Serves 8	As the PattyCakes have been pretty much cooked & mixed, it only remains to oven bake them until they achieve a nice crusty exterior.

 

North Utsire