There is nothing more romantic than spending your first Christmas together as a couple. And there is nothing more romantic than making a vegetarian nut roast for your ehefrau. Things go a bit yumpy though when you put on a Dr. Feelgood album whilst you're cooking and realise that after 2 hours on loop, he has invited himself for Christmas dinner! This blog discusses the tribulations of making a complex nut roast on Christmas day, and how the redemptive power of blues-rock can overcome any culinary vexation.
Dr. Feelgood are a British pub rock band formed in 1971 on Canvey Island, Essex. Known for their raw, high-energy blend of rock and rhythm and blues, they stood out with a no-frills, working-class attitude. The classic lineup featured Lee Brilleaux’s powerful vocals and Wilko Johnson’s sharp, choppy guitar, creating their signature sound. Early albums like Down by the Jetty (1975) and Malpractice (1975) captured their live intensity, while their 1976 live album Stupidity reached number one in the UK. Pioneers of pub rock, Dr. Feelgood helped pave the way for punk with their stripped-back approach. Despite lineup changes and Brilleaux’s early death in 1994, the band continues to perform, keeping their legacy alive.
So what's the connection between Dr. Feelgood and nut roast? Well, practically none at all! The quirky, tenuous relationship comes down to the cultural and countercultural waves from which they originated. Dr. Feelgood's gritty, no-frills blues-rock, came out of the 1970s UK music scene, embodying a raw, working-class energy. Meanwhile, nut roast, equally gritty the way I make it, became a staple in the growing vegetarian movement of the same era, fuelled by environmental awareness, ethical eating, and countercultural rejection of industrial meat production. Both are, in their own ways, symbols of rebellion against the mainstream; Dr. Feelgood shaking up overproduced rock with their stripped-down sound, and nut roast offering a hearty, meat-free alternative to the traditional British roast dinner. They reflect two sides of the same cultural coin: music and food as expressions of identity, resistance, and reinvention in 1970s Britain. Ok?
This is Dr. Feelgood circa 1978, waiting for Belfast's first (and only) all-day nut roast diner to open so they could plot the overthrow of imperialist society by breaking the stranglehold of the meat industry on agriculture.
I will now attend to my own personal act of rebellion by admitting I sought a vegan recipe on the BBC Good Food website, and after cooking the nut roast, watching it crumble in front of my very eyes, decided from that day forward to include an egg for binding and in future to extol the virtues of eating vegetarian, rather than vegan, nut roast. Screw you BBC for your deception. Below is the modified recipe which includes an egg. If you want to fight and die on the hill of veganism, then I recommend you omit the egg and bring a straw to your Christmas dinner party because that's the only way you'll manage to eat it.
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped 2 celery stalks, finely diced 1 leek (about 100g/3½oz trimmed weight), thinly sliced 2 carrots, coarsely grated (approximately 150g/5½oz) 2 garlic cloves, minced 300g/10½oz mixed nuts such as walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts or pecans 180g/6oz cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped 75g/2½oz dried cranberries 4 tablespoons cashew butter 1 vegan vegetable stock cube 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing 4 tablespoons plant-based milk such as almond or soya finely grated zest of 1 lemon 20g/¾oz fresh parsley, finely chopped 1 teaspoon sea salt freshly ground black pepper
Method
Firstly, you will need to cook the chestnuts. Roasting (the oven method) gives them that rich, toasty flavour and slightly crisp shell.
Soak the chestnuts for 15-30 minutes before roasting.
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
Score the shells: Use a sharp knife to cut a small cross or slit on the flat side of each chestnut. This is crucial — it lets steam escape and stops them from exploding.
Arrange on a baking tray: Place them cut-side up.
Roast for 20-25 minutes until the shells peel back and the flesh is tender.
Cradle the roasted nuts in a tea towel for 10 minutes to allow them to steam/ cool
Peel while warm, as they’re easier to work with when hot.
Chestnuts are much easier to peel when they’re still warm, so work quickly — and if they cool down too much, you can pop them back into warm water or the oven to loosen the skins again.
Place the mixed nuts and stock cube into a food processor and pulse until the nuts are finely chopped — you want small, even pieces rather than a fine powder. If you don’t have a food processor, you can chop the nuts by hand, aiming for a similar fine consistency.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin with a little olive oil, then line the base with baking paper to help the loaf release easily after baking.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery, leek, and grated carrot. Cook gently for around 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly, until the vegetables are softened and reduced somewhat. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
Transfer the cooked vegetables to a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped nuts, chestnuts, cranberries, parsley, lemon zest, plant milk, and salt. Grind in plenty of black pepper. Mix thoroughly and set briefly to one side.
In a separate bowl, stir in the cashew butter (I used peanut butter), almond milk and vegetable stock, as well as the morally troublesome whisked egg, ensuring the ingredients are fully incorporated and adopts a fine paste. This will help the loaf hold together nicely when sliced.
Now mix the paste and vegetables/ nuts from the large mixing bowl, until everything is evenly coated.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, pressing it down firmly with the back of a spoon to compact it well. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden and the loaf is heated through.
Once baked, remove the tin from the oven and leave it to rest for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen, then carefully turn the loaf out onto a serving board or platter. Slice into thick portions and serve warm with vegan gravy or your favourite sides.
No comments:
Post a Comment