Weekend Carnivore

Part of the fun of moving to a different country is learning about the food traditions of that country. Since I moved to the United Kingdom in June 1996, I have been introduced to so many British dishes that I never knew existed. Of course, I had heard of British staples such as fish and chips and shepherds pie. It turned out though that they are just the tip of the iceberg that is this nation’s culinary heritage.

I have heard so many times from people back home about how bad they think British food is suppose to be. Let me tell you, that is a total falsehood. If you can’t eat well in the UK then you simply didn’t try.  In London alone, you can get food cooked by some of the finest chef’s in the world.  In just this past week, I have eaten Turkish food, Czech food, Indian food, Chinese food and Middle Eastern food while out and about in the city.

British food treasures aren’t just found in the restaurant scene though. The true richness is found in those passed down family recipes that have been made for generations. British food is wonderful and it should be celebrated. The classic British dishes are often master classes in making filling meals out of inexpensive ingredients.

Pan Haggerty is just such one British recipe. It is one of those recipes that is more of a concept than an exact recipe. Traditionally, it would have a bit of meat and then a whole lot of root vegetables.  From what I have learned since moving here, most families have their own idea of what makes a pan haggerty recipe.

My mother in law, makes a dish that is near enough a classic pan haggerty but it uses bacon.  She never calls it pan haggerty but I was watching a British cookery show and saw them making pan haggerty and thought ‘hey, that is that recipes!’.

My husband has always really enjoyed her recipe but there is no danger of him learning to cook well enough to be the one to pass down the recipe. So, I figured that I would take it upon myself to learn a pan haggerty recipe that I felt was as tasty as my mother in law’s version.  Of course, as we are trying to eat a vegetarian lifestyle most of the time, I wanted to make it a vegetarian pan haggerty recipe.

I tinkered around with bits and bobs of vegetables I had and decided upon making it a carrot, butternut squash and potato vegetarian pan haggerty recipe.  For a while, I was afraid there was going to be too much liquid in the pan but by the end of the cooking period I was left with just the right amount of ultra tasty juices.

I sliced up some freshly baked bread and that was all we needed for a truly lovely and very British meal.

Vegetarian Pan Haggerty

vegetarian pan haggerty recipe

Ingredients:

30 grams butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
200 grams onions, sliced in thin rings
550 grams potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
300 grams carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
50 grams, butternut squash, peeled and sliced thinly
500 ml vegetarian chicken flavoured stock or vegetable stock
100 grams cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
1. Melt the butter with oil over a medium low heat in a pan that will be safe to go into an oven.
2. Sauté the onions until cooked down and just starting to go golden.
3. Scoop out onions and set aside.
4. In the same pan, layer up the vegetable slices with potatoes, reserved onions, carrots and squash. Repeat the layers making sure to end with a potato layer on top.
5. Add the stock on the pan and cook on a medium high heat and covered for 15 minutes.
6. Take the cover off, reduce the heat and cook uncovered for 10 minutes until most – but not all – of the liquid has reduced.
7. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and put until a pre-heated grill for a few minutes until it is melted and started to go golden brown.
8. Serve

Serves: 4

All this fluke warm weather we have been having in London has gotten me thinking about summer eating.  Hot evenings of eating hearty salads for meals are just around the corner. With those light meals I know we are also going to be craving refreshing desserts.

My husband really enjoys those ice pops you can get in a any number of unnatural colours from the corner store. This year, I thought I would try my hand and learning to make my own healthier versions of those frozen ice pops. Also, with a little imagination I thought I might be able to come up with some interesting varieties to keep the idea fresh throughout the summer.

Not only will they be far better for both of us but they don’t actually require all that much effort or money to produce. The ice pop molds are available at any number of supermarkets at this time of year. I picked my set up at Ikea for just over a pound. Apart from the molds, the cost comes down to whatever you decide to put into your ice pops.

For my first attempt at making my own frozen ice pops I went for a kiwi and lemon ice pop recipe. My mother in law had recently been staying with us and left behind several kiwi fruits. I didn’t want them to go to waste and I was sure I could work them into the recipe. For the lemon, I went with a diet cloudy lemonade.

For any American readers, in the UK lemonade means a carbonated drink such as Sprite. However, the cloudy version is much closer in taste to what Americans think of as lemonade. The only difference is that it is carbonated. However, I am sure this kiwi and lemon ice pop recipe would work with non-carbonated lemonade too.

It really couldn’t be much easier to make these kiwi and lemon ice pops and the great thing is that a total of three ingredients goes into the recipe. I can’t even begin to think how many chemicals go into the ones we had been buying!

I am looking forward to a summer of trying out new ice pop varieties. I am sure the possibilities are endless. I am even thinking of “adult” cocktail varieties that could be done.  There is some ginger wine in my fridge that is begging to be used.

Kiwi and Lemon Ice Pops

Kiwi and Lemon Ice Pop Recipe

Ingredients:

80 grams kiwi flesh
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 cup cloudy lemonade

Directions:

1. Purée the kiwi flesh. You can use a traditional blender or a stick blender to do this. I went with the stick blender.
2. Stir in the honey.
3. Pour in the cloudy lemonade and mix everything together until well combined.
4. Pour into the ice pop molds and freeze overnight.

Makes: 6 ice pops

The weather in London this past week has been dangerously close to being summery. Honestly, we have gotten to go outside without our coats on and everything! We don’t even always get to do that in the actual summer months.

This past weekend, I had a friend that was performing a stand up comedy show at a pub in Camden.  So, I figured I would take advantage of the freakish weather and take a stroll through the market before his show. Of course any visit to Camden Market for me means a trip back to the wonderful food stalls in the west yard of Camden Locke Market. It was good to see that so many of the places I had seen on previous visits were still running strong. Also, there were a number of new places that had popped up to seriously tempt my tastebuds.

Frustratingly, I couldn’t allow myself to indulge too much because I knew I would be eating at my friend’s show but I couldn’t let myself leave that food yard without trying something.  Just when I was having trouble deciding what should be my treat I walked around a corner and came face to face with Jaz & Jul’s Organic Hot Chocolate stand.

Organic hot chocolate in Camden Market

Normally, hot chocolate would be enough on its own to get my attention but this time it was watching the woman on the stall preparing the iced hot chocolate that got me going.  On the warm day it seemed like a perfect indulgence.  What I particularly found interesting was the wide variety of unusual flavours of chocolate they offered.

Hot chocolate varieties

All of them sounded really good and I was highly tempted to try the orange with cardamom and cloves because that just sounded wonderful. However, my eye kept being drawn to the bottom of that list to the caramel with a hint of lime variety. That was a combination I hadn’t heard of before and so decided that was they way I was going to go.

I placed my order for an iced chocolate and was very pleasantly served by either Jaz or Jul (not sure which) and I am happy to report that I was offered a choice of soy milk instead of cows milk. It is always nice when people make it easy to make vegan choices. I am not a vegan but I do have lactose intolerances. So, even on that side of things it is nice when the option to not have real dairy is so easily taken.  I did end up taking the lactose risk though and went for real milk.

Iced chocolate being served

I watched as she scooped chocolate powder out of the various containers on the stall and mixed everything together with cold milk and ice cubes. She asked if I wanted whipped cream on top and honestly couldn’t imagine somebody not wanting extra goodness on top of all that milky chocolate. At last, the iced chocolate was mine to drink.

iced hot chocolate drink

I am pleased to report that it was a really tasty drink that was perfect for the warm weather. The caramel and lime flavouring came in the form of flavour crystals that were mixed in with the chocolate. I imagine that had I gone for the hot chocolate option they would have melted more and given a more intense flavour. In the iced variety, they were more like little candy crystals that you could chew on as you were drinking. The lime felt like more than just a hint but that isn’t a complaint at all because I found it to be a really nice combination with the caramel.

I certainly recommend giving Jaz & Jul’s a try when you are next in Camden market but you can also order their mixtures from their website. I am certain I will be making another purchase in the future but next time I will go for the hot chocolate just to see the difference. Plus, it is unlikely that we will have nice weather two outings in a row. This is England after all.

I am not a coffee drinker. In fact, until today I don’t think I have ever drunk a full cup of anything that included coffee. I tried several times when I was younger but always found it too bitter and not really to my taste.

I do, however, like coffee ice cream. With all the cream and sugar the bitterness is cut to make it enjoyable. Lately, I have been thinking maybe it is time to try coffee again but this time experiment with different types until I find one that works for my tastebuds.

My chance came this week when I, once again, participated in Recipezaar’s Pick A Chef event. In this event, you adopt one or more of your fellow Recipezaar chefs and agree to make and review at least three of their recipes. In exchange, somebody adopts you and you get three of your own recipes reviewed.

White chocolate Bailey's latte recipe

One of the chefs I adopted was Shuzbud. As I was perusing her list of recipes I spotted this White chocolate Bailey’s latte recipe.

One of the things I have always enjoyed about Recipezaar events is that they push me to try new things. It is as a direct result of various events held on the site that I found out I love marinated artichokes, sundried tomatoes and polenta. With such a track record I decided it was worth giving this white chocolate latte recipe a try too.

Of course, I had to do things my style. Which means cheap and cheerful! Instead of actual Baileys I used the Irish whiskey cream brand that you can buy in Lidls. I also bought my white chocolate there (on an aside they have this super yummy strawberry white chocolate bar there now!). I even bought a jar of Fair Trade instant coffee there. I love that Lidls is doing so many Fair Trade items now. It is great that you can make the responsible and ethical choice without having to worry about your own budget all that much.

The white chocolate latte recipe was so simple to prepare. Simply heat the milk (I used skimmed because it is what I keep in the house) on the stove, stir in the white chocolate until it melts and then add the coffee and the Baileys.

I am sure it is because the drink was mostly a white hot chocolate with a little bit of coffee but I really enjoyed it. It was lush tasting without having to cost me much in either effort of money.

Perhaps getting myself to enjoy coffee isn’t a total lost cause and having this latte recipe taste this good is just the springboard I need to explore further.

There is a party in my mouth and you are all invited!

Okay, well maybe that is a tad extreme but I have been on an adventure with this recipe all day. I woke up with an idea for a new dip recipe floating in my head. By the time lunch came around I just knew that I had to try it out and see if the new dip recipe I had dancing in my brain would work. Caution was thrown to the wind and I decided to have a crisps and dips lunch.

I was aiming for a creamy dip recipe but I didn’t want to go the normal onion or spinach dip path. Instead, I thought that mixing together some Italian themed ingredients was the way to go. I knew that I wanted sundried tomatoes to be a key feature to the new dip recipe and that I wanted to use low fat cream cheese as the base.

A good rummage in the fridge helped be bring my plan together. You can’t have something Italian without garlic. So, a few cloves had to go into the dip recipe. Then, I thought that throwing some green olives could add a nice hint of salty depth to the dip. Lastly, I threw in some lemon juice and zest in an attempt to lift the whole flavour of the low fat dip.

The results of the dip experiment? Yummy! All of the fresh flavours work very well together and make the taste buds pops. Plus, the light cream cheese means all the lovely creamy dip texture is there without nearly as much fat as you would think. Perhaps best of all, it takes a total of 30 seconds in the mini chopper to make!

Easy Sundried Tomato and Olive Dip

East sundried tomato and olive dip

Ingredients:

1 cloves garlic, minced
25 grams pitted green olives
50 grams sundried tomatoes in oil, drained but leave a bit of the oil clinging
200 grams light cream cheese
1 teaspoon lemon juice
zest of half a lemon

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients into a mini chopper or food processor and use the pulse setting for about 30 seconds until everything is mixed up but there is still a bit of texture to the tomatoes.

2. Get the crisps and enjoy! It would probably be really yummy spread on a bagel too.

Serves: 4

It is vegetarian swap time again over at Recipezaar and this month I selected SarahBeth131 as my swap partner. A good choice, if I do say so myself, because she has some excellent vegetarian and vegan recipes in her cookbooks.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am trying hard to get back on the diet bandwagon as of late. I tend to find lunch to be my calorie flashpoint in the day. I have a fairly routine breakfast which is easy for me to repeat every day and I am good at planning a low calorie vegetarian evening meal. However, at lunch I am always needing something quick and so that leads to me reaching for things without counting the calories.

What I have been trying to do is have lunches that I can prepare in the morning when I am making by breakfast and then just take out of the fridge for lunch. In theory, this allows me to write the calories down before I get too busy with my working day.

Things like potato salads have been working out well because they benefit from chilling in the fridge for all those hours. So, when I saw this SarahBeth131′s creamy lime potato salad recipe, I knew that was going to be one I made for the veggie swap.

Creamy lime potato salad recipe

If I am honest, I was unsure how the lime mixed with the mayonnaise would work with potatoes. Yet, at the same time it was that uncertainty that intrigued me. I don’t think I had really had a citrus based potato salad in the past.

Then, the addition of thyme to the mix left me further scratching my head. I have a weird relationship with thyme. Over the last few years I have discovered that I really don’t like the dried version of thyme. Not just the taste but the smell can even turn my stomach at times. Then by complete accident I discovered that fresh thyme can be rather enjoyable indeed. Perhaps it is because it is a much more mild flavour.

As it turns out, both flavours worked really well in the salad. In fact, the lime worked so well that I have set myself the challenge of figuring out what other salads I can make with that lime mayo dressing. The juice and the zest of the lime really lifted the taste to make everything dance across the tastebuds. The fresh thyme was a nice little accent too though I will for sure make sure it was always fresh thyme when I make this in the future.

The creamy lime potato salad recipe was really easy to throw together in the morning. Even more so because I used some new potatoes that were leftover form the main meal the evening before. I simply mixed up the mayonnaise dressing, for which I used extra light mayonnaise and reduced fat creme fraiche (sour cream can be hard to find in the UK and creme fraiche is a very good substitute for it) and combined it with the potatoes and put it in to chill. I think the lime worked especially well to take away that slight after taste that fat free mayonnaise can sometimes carry.

My lunch turned into bit of a desk picnic with a serving of this wonderful creamy lime potato salad recipe, some honey and linseed crackers and a bit of mature cheddar cheese. So full of flavour and pretty healthy too!

It was party time again this weekend. This time it was an anniversary party for a London based sci fi group I attend. Yup, I am a geek and not afraid to admit it! I was asked if I would mind bringing some cookies and cakes for the party. Me, mind a chance to bake and share food? Not a chance!

Baked Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

The only question was which recipes to add to the menu. I knew it had to be something chocolate but wasn’t sure in exactly what form. That was until I saw a post about these cheesecake brownies on MaryMoh’s Keep Learning Keep Smiling blog.

Cheesecake brownies are an evil invention of some cook that decided chewy chocolate brownies weren’t tempting enough and needed a layer of cheesecake baked on top. I suppose, it does save you from having decide which one to have when you can have both at the same time.

This particular cheesecake brownies recipe was really easy to put together and ended up tasting great too. The cheesecake part of the cheesecake brownie recipe is especially nice and rose to great heights over the rim of the brownie pan. It is the baked sort of cheesecake and so you get that lovely springy texture.

I saved a couple of the cheesecake brownie squares back from the party plate and put them in the fridge for a naughty breakfast the next day. It turned out that the cheesecake portion of the baked cheesecake brownie recipe got even better after spending a night chilling!

I think these cheesecake brownies are going to come out again and I can see myself making all sorts of adaptations to the recipe. Even as I am writing this, I am imagining what they would be like with some chocolate chips mixed into the cheesecake mixture. Surely chocolate chip cheesecake brownies can’t fail!

Who ever said that vegetarian food can’t be comfort food? Not me! Even when I am in full Weekend Carnivore mode there are times when I just need a comfort food hit.

Mashed potatoes are a classic comfort food and the great thing is that unless you are making them in a very strange way they are a vegetarian dish. Another great thing about mashed potatoes is that there are so many things you can do to your normal mashed potatoes recipe to jazz it up. As long as you stick the the basics – potato, some sort of fat and a bit of liquid you are able to experiment to find just that right combination for any occasion.

In a recent experimental mood, I thought ‘hey, I wonder what happens if you put saffron into your mashed potatoes?’. At the same time, I was getting hungry for some buttermilk mashed potatoes. In the end, I decided to mash (pun sort of intended) the two ideas together and see what happened.

You know what? It worked! Saffron buttermilk mashed potatoes were born and my tummy and tastebuds thanked me.

Buttermilk is underused in the UK, I feel. Despite the name, it is actually a very low fat ingredient. Yet, it can work towards making some great creamy dishes and even salad dressings.

In this saffron buttermilk mashed potatoes recipe, the combination of the creamy buttermilk and the indulgent saffron work together to make something as classic and commonplace as your normal mashed potatoes feel like something really special. Yet, by using the skim milk and buttermilk it isn’t going to break the calorie bank – result!

Saffron Buttermilk Smashed Potatoes

Saffron buttermilk mashed potatoes recipe

Ingredients:

1 kilogram potatoes
150 millilitres skim milk
40 grams butter
pinch saffron threads
60 grams buttermilk

Directions:

1. Peel potatoes and chop into chunks.
2. Put into a large pot of salted boiling water and cook until tender which is usually about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine the skim milk, butter and saffron into a small saucepan.
4. Heat gently, stirring often, until the butter has melted and combined with the milk.
5. Remove from the heat and allow the saffron to infuse into the liquid while your potatoes finish cooking.
6. Drain the potatoes well and then mash together with the buttery saffron mixture. I have taken to using an electric mixer on a slow speed to get a whipped potato texture.
7. Stir in the buttermilk and serve.

Makes: 4 servings

Ever have those times in your life when you just want life to go back to normal? All the travelling I have been doing has been great (especially the nephew part of it!) but it does always shake up life a little bit. It hasn’t been the main hurdle between us and a normal life at the moment though. No, that would be the fact that our bedroom currently only has one fully standing wall!

Just a few days into the New Year, we moved some furniture in our bedroom and noticed some mold on the wall. Not just any mold but a nice black fuzzy variety that had worked its way up the back of our two wardrobes, our bedside tables and a few other items.

I have been having repository problems at night for over the last year which often would turn into morning nosebleeds. Problems which have proved baffling to various doctors who despite x-rays could find nothing wrong with my body. Gee, I wonder if I have been sleeping with my head next to this mold for so long and didn’t know it!

I would guess so. For the last month we have been having to cram all our things into our spare bedroom while the landlords drag their feet to repair the leaking roof, which apparently is the source of the problem. They have also taken three of the walls in our bedroom all the way back to the concrete brick to allow the walls to dry out before eventually (who knows when!) rebuilding them. In the time we have been sleeping in there (all our clothing in suitcases since we don’t actually have wardrobes now) I haven’t had a single night of breathing problems or any nose bleeds. I take that as proof.

In all this upturn, I haven’t done all that much proper cooking and my diet is suffering. Yesterday, I decided even if the walls are (literally) crumbling around me, I can still at least take control of what I eat.

So, back on the wagon, I go once again and started with this lunch dish. Sometimes I just need a sandwich to throw together to satisfy my grumbling tummy at lunch. It is also exactly this meal of the day where I am at most danger of reaching for meat. Aware of this problem, I have set myself the challenge of coming up with vegetarian sandwiches.

This week, I made a pickled carrot recipe as part of my monthly vegetarian recipe swap on Recipezaar. It was an intriguing concept and turned out to be rather nice. The recipe was posted on the site by Magpie Diner, who has many vegetarian and vegan recipes in her collection, and can be seen at – Carrots In Vinegar.

In the recipe, Magpie Diner suggested that they would go nicely with black olives. My brain started to work in the strange ways that it does and I wondered how the two items would work together in an egg salad sandwich.

For my British friends, in the States, egg salad is what you call egg and mayo. For my American friends, in the UK, something called egg salad would involve egg and actual salad such as lettuce. It is just one of those differences that took me a while to get used to when ordering food in the UK.

It turns out the combination worked rather well. The sharpness of the pickled carrots added a depth of flavour to the egg salad recipe. At the same time, the mellow nature of the black olives kept them from taking the sharpness over the top of acceptability.

Why not try out the pickled carrot recipe and then see what you think of them in this egg salad recipe. Otherwise, you could do this recipe without the pickled carrots and still have a nice olive an egg salad sandwich.

Vegged Out Egg Salad

Vegged Out Egg Salad recipe

Ingredients:

2 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped
30 grams celery, finely diced
10 grams pickled carrots, finely diced
25 grams black olives, sliced thinly
50 grams extra light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl.
2. Put between bread or stuff into pitas with some lettuce or other salad items.
3. Eat and enjoy

Makes: 2 sandwiches

Welcome to another one of those really long posts I make after I visit a foodie destination with my camera in tow. I am sure that most people find it strange that I enjoy taking photos of food markets and foodie hangouts when I travel. I can’t explain why I do but I think it is because I find that, for me, people make a city rather than the buildings. While I will very happily take the usual travel shots of monuments and statues, I get a lot more personal satisfaction by taking shots of the real people of a city. Plus, I also get to try out some really great food!

As I mentioned in my last Weekend Carnivore update, I am currently visiting my sister in the Philadelphia area of the United States. I grew up in this area before moving to London in 1996. Whenever I go home it is as much about getting the chance to have all the food I grew up with as it is seeing family and friends. Anybody that lives in a different country or even city than where they grew up will certainly understand.

Whatever city you visit, they are going to claim to have the best food. Well, let me just put my cards on the table and say flat out that Philadelphia and the surrounding area has the best food of any city in the United States. After all, there has to be a reason I ate so much and got this fat and I am more than willing to point the finger straight at the amazing food that the Philadelphia area has to offer.

Today, I paid a visit to one of the top foodie destinations in Philadelphia – Reading Terminal Market.

Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia

Reading Terminal Market is an indoor food market that holds a lot of historical value for the Philadelphia area. The market first opened in 1892 after a push to move the hoards of outdoor street merchants into one – less obstructive – location. Reading Terminal Market was one of the first places to operate a commercial refrigeration facility. It was a huge refrigeration system that allowed for the safe storage a wide range of produce even in the sweltering heat of a Philadelphia summer.

Location was key to Reading Terminal Market. It is called Reading Terminal Market because it was located alongside the train depot from the, then significant, Reading Railroad. This location meant that farmers from the Pennsylvania farmland could use the train to take their fresh produce to city for sale. As history marched on, it also meant that suburban housewives, could have the merchants at Reading Terminal Market put together baskets of shopping for them. They would then put the baskets on the trains and the housewives would collect them at their nearest station.

The origins of Reading Terminal Market are still echoed in it today.There are still a number of fruit and vegetables stalls that offer those living and working in the big city the chance to enjoy fresh produce from the Pennsylvania countryside. Certainly, I am always impressed with the stacks and stacks of fruit and vegetables for sale. It ranges from exotic fruit to things as humble as the tomato. Yet, even those humble tomatoes look great, don’t you think?

Tomatoes at Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia

Just about all the fruit and vegetable stands at the market look great but one of them really stood out for me on today’s adventure was the Fair Food Farmstand. They aren’t solely a fruit and vegetable stand, as they do sell some meat too, but I really liked the whole idea behind their business.

Food miles is such a buzz topic in the UK at the moment. If these folks are anything to go by, it looks like there are plenty of people in Philadelphia that feel the same way about eating local food. They source their food from sustainable farmers in the surrounding Philadelphia area. To me, that is keeping the spirit of the original merchants alive. I especially liked that fruit that had gone a bit too soft aren’t thrown away. Instead, they are offered up at a reduce price. It might be ugly but it will still make some yummy jam!

Cranberries at Fair Food Farmstand

Leeks at Fair Food Farmstand

Another echo from the founding days which can still be seen in the modern day Reading Terminal Market is the influence of the Pennsylvania Dutch. The Pennsylvania Dutch are actually German in ancestry. In fact, many people call themselves Pennsylvania German instead. The confusion comes from the word ‘Deutsch’ which means German but eventually came to be written as ‘Dutch’. Most people outside of the United States will think of the Amish when they think of Pennsylvania Dutch. They are just one group of people that fall under the PA Dutch umbrella. My own family background is ‘Dutchie’ but not Amish.

The Amish do play a large role in the modern Reading Terminal Market. They bring products from their Lancaster County farms into the market to be sold. The things they sell range widely from freshly butchered meats to preserves and even to amazing Amish baked goods. I told you it was this food that made me fat!

Amish man selling dried food at Reading Terminal Market

Wherever you go in Reading Terminal Market, you are going to run into Amish or Mennonite people selling their food items right next to the most outlandishly modern food stalls. I have to admit, I loved seeing that clash of cultures living to peacefully together.

This Amish run stand caught my eye because of the freshly ground peanut butter they were selling. It doesn’t get much more fresh than that! Even as I am typing this my mind is drifting off to fantasies of a peanut butter sandwich made with their freshly ground variety and washed down by their fresh pressed apple cider. Apple cider in the USA is non-alcoholic but I am sure I would be left in a food coma nonetheless!

Freshly ground peanut butter at Reading Terminal Market

It isn’t all Amish and fresh vegetables though. The selection of food temptations at Reading Terminal Market is nearly endless.

Those looking for vegetarian friendly goodies with a bit of sophistication, can head to the gourmet themed stalls. Oils and cheeses from around the world are in no short supply.

Fancy oil for sale at Reading Terminal Market

Sweet tooth’s are well catered for too. There is chocolate, cakes and candy to be had throughout the market. However, for me the one chocolate stand that stands out miles apart from the rest is Chocolate By Mueller. In fact, when I am far away in London, when I close my eyes and think about Reading Terminal Market, their stall is the first to dance in my mind’s eye.

If you can cover it in chocolate then these guys have probably already done it. They combine expert chocolate and candy making skills with a (in)famous sense of humour. This comes out in the different chocolate molds they do that range from chocolate teeth to chocolate ears and lungs and even chocolate mice.

Chocolate noses

Big candy suckers for sale at Reading Terminal Market

I satisfied my own sweet cravings by taking one some of these chrystalized cream waffers. They are a light, but solid, candy that melts in your mouth. Most varieties are some sort of mint but there are cinnamon and orange varieties too. I never really see these outside of the Philadelphia area. So, I grabbed a few to munch on the train ride back to my sister’s house.

Reading Terminal Market candy

With all these foodie goodies around, it is only a matter of time before tummies start to rumble. Reading Terminal Market has that covered with rows and rows of restaurant stalls. Near enough any cuisine you can think of is represented but it would be a lie to say that the market is put together with vegetarians in mind. Most of the restaurants are based around a meat product but there are often vegetarian options on their menus too.

For example, I saw this really yummy looking vegetarian sandwich on sale at a really busy cheesesteak stand. I have to admit that part of the reason I took a photo was that it was called the ‘Euro’. I am not really sure what makes it a ‘Euro’ sandwich other than maybe some of the ingredients have an Italian slant. Either way, it really looked yummy. If I could ever find broccoli rabe in the UK, I would try my hand at making my own version.

Euro vegetarian sandwich

Speaking of cheesesteaks, my biggest discovery on today’s trip to Reading Terminal Market was a vegetarian cheesesteak. For those of you that don’t know, the cheesesteak is the signature dish of Philadelphia. It is thinly sliced beef quickly cooked with onions and topped with cheese. All of that is then served on a long roll to make a sandwich. It is so good and I am not sure you are allowed to live in Philly if you don’t like them. They are without a doubt the one food item I miss the most now that I live in the UK. The fact is though, they just are never going to be a vegetarian food.

That is what I thought anyway until today when I found the Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar at Reading Terminal Market. I have been following them on Twitter for a bit now and was interested in seeing what was on their menu.

Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar

I read their menu and there amongst the various veggie burgers was the vegetarian cheesesteak. Not without my reservations, I felt I wouldn’t be doing my duty as a vegetarian food blogger if I didn’t at least give it a try. I asked the counter staff a bit about their vegetarian cheesesteak. The ‘meat’ part of it is made up of seitan (something I haven’t ever actually seen in the UK but have heard about.), and the cheese is soy cheese. So, in theory this is a vegan cheesesteak.

I placed my order and watched as the woman prepared my vegetarian cheesesteak on the grill. At this stage I was still really unsure and looking around for which stall I would order from next if I turned out to hate this veggie cheesesteak.

Vegetarian Cheesesteak

What a fool I turned out to be because in the end the vegetarian cheesesteak was down right yummy. The seitan had a texture that took a little bit of getting used to but was more like actual meat than many of the other meat substitutes I have tried. The taste was spot on though. If there was one thing that could have made it taste more authentic it would have been to add a bit of grease into the mix.

I grabbed a shot of the cheesesteak before I devoured it.

Vegetarian Philly Cheesesteak

I felt so pleased with myself that I rounded off my vegetarian lunch at Reading Terminal Market with a white chocolate and raspberry brownie from The Flying Monkey Patisserie. Apparently, Rachael Ray would have approved.

Rachael Ray approved brownies

Before I finish this ultra long post, I wanted to share two things I saw around the market that might be of particular interest to my British readers.

On the one wall of the market, there is a showcase of the work of a photographer that has photographed food markets around the world. He is obviously a man out of my own heart. I smiled knowingly when I saw that one of the markets featured in the showcase was Borough Market in London.

Borough Market

Lastly, I was browsing the shelves of a gourmet grocer in the market. I looked up and saw this on one of the shelves. Now, keep in mind that this is a gourmet shop and everything there sells at a premium.

Exotic brown sauce for sale

I was a bit amused that they were carrying so many more bottles of the fruity variety than the normal. Even so, it shows that what is exotic and gourmet is all relative!