The burgers are better in Copenhagen

A couple of weeks ago we were in Copenhagen, and five nights gave us plenty of time to experience the local culinary scene. So , Danish food: you're thinking smoked fish platters, open sandwiches, butter cookies and pastries, right? Oh, and bacon. (Don't forget the bacon!) Well, think again: think -- burgers!

We did actually go to a Danish restaurant on our first night; we also tried a Vietnamese cafe down Vesterbrogade and found a delightful wine and tapas bar up near Norreport, but these are subjects for another post. For our last night in 'Hagen, we knew what we wanted: somewhere cosy, comforting, friendly, satisfying, not too far to walk or too stiff and formal, laid-back but also a bit fun and trendy. Walking us around when we first arrived, our native guide Carole had pointed out a local recommendation: a bar/cafe with a giant pink tongue painted over the front window; good for burgers. That sounded like just the thing for tonight, and so -- without any idea of what the place was called, nor a clear recollection of where exactly it was, we set out to find the mysterious cities of gold -- um, I mean, burger bar.

Halifax: spot the tongue!

Luckily, it turned out to be almost exactly where we thought it was (though we had to walk past twice before we saw it -- giant pink tongue less obvious than I thought it would be from my first memory of it!) and to be called Halifax -- named, it seems, for the brewery whose excellent beverages feature at the bar. And, as promised, they specialise in burgers, to the extent in fact that the menu consists solely of burgers, with a few (mostly) appropriate sides available: fries, mash, salad and... nachos. (I did say mostly!!)  Diners are instructed to 'vaelg din burger her' with the explanatory note that 'pa Halifax opbygger du selv din burger tallerken'.

Fortunately for the linguistically challenged among us, there's also an English menu to guide you through the steps of selecting your desired burger type, your preferred patty, your chosen side and your accompanying dipping sauce.  The burger varieties are named for globetrotting destinations with flavours supposedly appropriate to the location: the Biarritz has goats cheese and chilli-fried mushrooms (quel francais), the Crete is topped with Greek salad ingredients such as feta, olives and tzatziki, while the Liverpool promises the full English breakfast experience in burger form.

Cosy but cool: the Halifax vibe

As a recovering vegetarian, I have to fight the automatic tendency simply to order whatever non-carnivorous option is on the menu (sometimes there's more than one. Then it gets difficult because you have to choose!)  That's made even harder at Halifax by the fact that there are actually two kinds of vegie patty, not just the more common falafel but an intriguing celeriac and root vegetable burger. My decision is settled, though, when I read the fine print at the bottom of the menu, which gives an obligatory health warning about the potential dangers of eating undercooked meat before going on to note that, for reasons of flavour and juiciness, they cook all burgers to a perfect pinkness in the centre unless otherwise requested (by pregnant women and other food paranoiacs, one assumes). This sounds like a beef burger well worth eating!

If one is going to go the whole hog one may as well go the whole cow, so I plump for the Nakskov. "Have you forgotten how good it is? We have pimped the classic burger..." With all the most decadent, cholesterol-laden toppings including crispy onions, soft onions, cheddar cheese, bacon, mustard, pickles and remoulade, this is a burger to end all burgers. In fact the menu even recommends that you opt for salad as a side when having this burger (presumably because having too many calories in the same place at the same time creates an OH&S issue or at least requires some sort of statutory health warning) but I don't care and pick the fat chips anyway. I do show at least some prudence and refrain from super-pimping my Russian Pimp Burger with an extra-large beef patty (250g rather than the standard 175g); Lee demonstrates no such restraint but then I suppose he is just having the Copenhagen -- a relatively civilised classic with relish lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion on a sesame seed bun (as indeed are all the burgers) -- so a super-sized all-beef patty seems not inappropriate.

While waiting for our burgers, we kick back with a couple of the aforementioned Halifax brews. My dark ale is mild, well-rounded and not at all bitter (a surprise to me as most of my admittedly limited beer experience is with English beer - the darker the bitterer, as a rule). Lee has the cider, a lovely light colour and flavour to match -- apparently made from apples but with the fragrant softness of pear ciders and not a hint of the battery-acid taste that can mar apple ciders. Both our drinks come by the metric pint, that is, 500ml -- we're amused to find that this, in Denmark, is referred to as 'a half'.

The classic Copenhagen burger

Squishing is futile; this burger is still more than mouth-height!

The burgers, when they arrive, are truly epic. There's no question of picking them up to chow down; I see now why the door-sized mouth is an appropriate decor choice. Slicing a slightly more manageable (though still hefty!) wedge from my burger reveals oozing remoulade, mounds of crispy and soft onions, melty cheese and the promised pink'n'juicy beef. It tastes unbelievably savoury, rich and luscious.

The accompanying potato wedges are a fine complement, crisp and brown outside, a nice balance between waxy and fluffy inside. The chipotle dip doesn't taste especially chipotley, the salsa has a bit more zing, however ketchup is provided at each table by the bottle; can't have chips without it!  But it's the burger that is the absolute star of the show. I eat every last bite of mine and surreptitiously lick my fingers.  Mmmmm.  I have to leave a few chips behind but the burger is worth the sacrifice.

 PIMP THAT BURGER!

Sitting replete and slightly dazed by deliciousness, full of burger and beer, we notice that the table next to us have ordered one burger & chips between two to share. Given the level of stuffedness I'm experiencing, I reflect to myself that this might have been the sensible option. But then, who wants to be sensible? Warm and fed, we waddle out into an autumnal Copenhagen night.

It's been probably 10 years -- no, more -- since the last time I ordered a hamburger.  If I had to eat only one burger to last me the next 10 years, I'm glad I chose this one. But hey, maybe we'll be back in Copenhagen before that!

Lazy cook's hot and sour soup

I am sick.  The onset of cold weather, start-of-term stress and start-of-term germs from the influx of new students have all combined to make me sick.  And when I am sick, what I usually want to eat -- almost without exception, in fact -- is hot and sour soup.  Either the Thai variety, with its deliciously tangy hit of sharp-sweet-sour-salty-hot flavours that can clear out your sinuses and blast through to the most cold-deadened tastebuds, or the ginger-laced, savoury, peppery, nourishing, egg-enriched Chinese version; both are eminently suitable.

The only difficulty is that soup is one of those foods that, in general, also benefits from long slow cooking to extract and meld flavours together (think stock simmering for hours on a low stove).  And although I want to eat soup, the last thing I want to do when I am sick is spend ages cooking.  I nearly went to Chinatown to buy prawns and lemongrass for tom yum soup, but the thought of all that shelling and sauteing and simmering and straining before I even got to making the soup defeated me; meanwhile, suan-la-tang (Chinese H&S soup) usually also requires a plethora of exotic ingredients: char-siu pork, shrimp, firm and soft tofu, bamboo shoots, two different kinds of mushrooms...

The trick, however, is that the flavours of the latter don't absolutely require all of these ingredients to be present for the soup to work.  Although the absolute best results would probably be obtained with a homemade long-simmered stock, the rich tang of the vinegar and the heat from peppers and chilli paste do their work even on an instant broth.  Having the basic elements for a Sichuan sauce on hand as well as some vegetables and oddments (such as dried wood ear mushrooms -- which last forever in the cupboard and swell up to three or four times their size in water, meaning one packet has lasted me years so far!) also helps; and a packet of ready-to-eat fried tofu puffs in spicy chilli oil provided the last element for a hot-and-sour soup that was everything I wanted on a cold (in both senses of the word) night.

Don't be put off by a seemingly long list of ingredients; once the first batch is sizzling in the pan, each new addition can be chopped as the previous one cooks, and most ingredients can be substituted out if you don't have something on hand.  The whole soup took me less than 20 minutes from start to yum.

Fast Hot & Sour Soup

2-inch piece ginger, peeled and shredded finely
2 fat cloves garlic, chopped small
1 red chilli, finely sliced
1 tsp sichuan peppercorns, roasted and crushed
several grinds black pepper
6 pieces fried spicy tofu, sliced
4-6 large leaves chinese cabbage, finely sliced crossways
4 dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked in hot water and sliced
~1 litre hot water
2 tsp vegetable stock powder
2 tbs shaoxing rice wine
2 tbs chinkiang vinegar
1 tbs light soy sauce (to taste)
2 tsp sugar
1-2 tsp chilli bean paste
1-2 tsp chiu chow chilli oil
handful enoki mushrooms
1 egg
2 spring onions, finely sliced

In a medium saucepan, heat a drizzle of oil (if the tofu came packed in oil, you can use this) and saute ginger, garlic, chilli and peppercorns for a few minutes, until fragrant.  Add sliced tofu and continue to cook; add stem parts of cabbage and give it all a good stir.  Add rice wine, vinegar and soy, then hot water and sugar, and remaining cabbage.  Bring to a simmer, taste for seasoning and add more soy (or vinegar or sugar) if needed, remembering that the chilli paste is salty.  Stir in chilli paste and oil; add mushrooms and bring just to the point of boiling.  Stirring, add the egg in a thin stream (you can beat it in a cup first or if you are lazy like me, just crack it and open it over the pot with one hand while stirring vigorously with the other).  Mix in spring onions and serve.

Makes 2 large bowlfuls (I ate them both :-9)

Note: Yes, I just happened to have enoki mushrooms needing to be used in the fridge.  Any sort of shredded vegetable would work here, though I find the texture of enoki particularly toothsome in soups.  Ditto the wood-ear mushrooms; they're a customary ingredient but not essential. 

The tofu I used comes as fried puffs (spongy not solid) in a chilli oil already spiked with sichuan pepper, adding to the flavour.  I can't find an exact picture online but it's probably similar to this: http://shop.waiyeehong.com/food-ingredients/snacks-sweets/crisps-snacks-nuts/savoury-snacks/marinated-tofu-spicy

Slow-roasted tomato and caramelised onion tart with white bean puree

This is a vegan riff on the classic flavours of roasted tomatoes and caramelised onions that are often paired with pastry, together with a creamy but sharp / salty cheese such as goats' or feta.  Here a white bean puree, made creamy with olive oil, pungent with garlic and seasoned with lemon juice and sea salt, takes the place of the cheese.

Pastry:
1 3/4 cups plain flour
pinch salt
125g vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/3 - 1/2 cup cold water
1-2 tbs soy milk (optional)

In a food processor (or with a fork or pastry cutter, but that's so much harder work!) pulse flour, salt and vegetable shortening until shortening is in pieces the size of small peas.  Empty mixture into a bowl and sprinkle over cold water (start with 1/3 cup first and add more if needed -- I ended up using a full 1/2 cup plus the soy milk), then mix lightly and quickly with a knife until mixture just comes together into a crumbly, fairly dry dough.  If mix is too dry add more liquid gradually as required to achieve the correct texture.  Wrap mixture in clingfilm, press dough into a ball to encourage it to come together, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roasted tomatoes and caramelised onions:
~1lb small ripe vine tomatoes (I got 11 in my pack)

Cut tomatoes in half (or thick slices if large), spread on a baking tray, scatter with salt and pepper and roast at 150C for about 20 min or until soft.

3 red onions, finely sliced
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs brown sugar
pinch salt
black pepper

Over low heat, cook onions with oil until very soft (15-20 min), add vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and continue to simmer until sticky and reduced.

When ready to cook tart, preheat oven to 200C.  Roll out pastry to a rectangle, fold in thirds to form a block, roll out again and fold in thirds the other way, then roll to desired size (mine was about the size of an A4 sheet of paper).  Score a line all the way around, about 1-2cm from the edge, to make a border; form a slight lip around the edge and prick pastry in the middle.  (The aim of all this is to try and get the edge to rise more than the middle... mine ended up pretty flat all round even so!)

Bake pastry until just starting to brown (10-15 min), remove from oven and spread caramelised onions all over, arrange tomatoes on top (squoosh them into the onion a bit), return to oven and bake another 10 min or until pastry is browned and juices bubbling. 

White bean puree
1 tin (400g) butter or cannellini beans
1 tbs olive oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed
zest of half a lemon
lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil, finely sliced

Whizz beans, olive oil, garlic and lemon zest in food processor until smooth puree is formed.  Taste and season as required.

When tart is cooked, dollop heaped teaspoonfuls of puree all over in an apparently-artlessly-random-but-actually-carefully-arranged-to-look-random pattern.  Scatter with basil.  Slice into rectangles and serve with a green leaf salad tossed with a sharp dressing.

The ideal logistical order to prepare all the different components would probably be:

• Slice onions and set over low heat to caramelise
• Turn on oven for tomatoes
• Make pastry to refrigeration step
• Pop tomatoes in to roast
• Go do something else for a bit, keeping an eye on onions and stirring occasionally (add vinegar & sugar when ready and continue to cook)
• When tomatoes are done, remove and crank oven to 200C (alternatively, you can prepare everything to this stage in advance and then just roll and bake when ready)
• Roll pastry and put in to blind-bake 
• (meanwhile, onions should have become ready)
• Top and finish baking
• Meanwhile make bean puree, slice basil
• Serve and enjoy!

Chilled chocolate thingummyberry

Lack of photos (because I always forget to take any before we scoff all the food) and lack of time are my two main obstacles to posting on this blog.  Undeterred, I press on and make sporadic posts whenever time and inclination are in my favour, absence of photos notwithstanding.

So this time, I have recipes from Another Vegan Dinner to share, even knowing I didn't get round to blogging all the recipes from the last one...  there is something about cooking within limits (be they what you can't use, or what you must use -- this goes some way to explaining my love of Iron Chef!) that, to me, inspires an added frisson of creativity.

This time I was cooking for a Proper Strict Vegan (no honey) as well as my other Not Quite So Strict Vegan friend.  Here is what we ate:

Nibbles
Edamame with sea salt and pepper (no recipe needed; just cook, season and serve!)
Carrot, coriander and sesame dip

Starter
Roasted tomato and caramelised onion tart with white bean puree

Main course
Butternut squash and mushroom makhani (based on this slow-cooker curry recipe)
Green beans and asparagus with fresh tomato dressing (based on this recipe from Kerry Saretsky of Serious Eats)
Sesame-braised baby bok choy (also from Serious Eats, recipe here)
Cucumber and mint salad
Pine-nut pilau rice

Dessert
Chilled chocolate thingummyberry -- a combination of chilled chocolate pudding on a biscuit base topped with a mix of summer berries. 

My piano teacher used to tell me not to start from the beginning every time I practised, or I would end up spending less practice time on the end.  True to form, if I started from the beginning of the menu every time, I'd probably never end up posting the recipes for dessert!  So, in an attempt to buck this trend, I'm going to start by posting the dessert recipe first.  Here goes...

Chilled Chocolate Thingummyberry
(partly based on this chocolate pudding recipe)

10 McVities dark chocolate digestive biscuits (vegan!!)

3 tbs cornflour
30ml (2 tbs) cold water
1/3 cup demerara sugar (you could probably use regular; demerara was what I had)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch salt
1 can (440g) coconut milk (I like Chaokoh brand)
1/2 cup soy milk (again, it was what I had; recipe seems unfussy as to what kind of non-dairy used)
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

1/2 punnet small strawberries, hulled
1 punnet blueberries
1 punnet raspberries
[I'm sorry, I don't know what a punnet is in weight!  Maybe 150g or so grams for the blueberries and raspberries; maybe more for the strawberries?]

Squuunch up biscuits and spread evenly in bottom of dish (my brown dish, about 12" long by 4" wide by 2" deep and oval shaped, is the perfect size).

Mix cornflour and cold water in a mug.  In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, sifted cocoa powder, salt and coconut milk until combined; place over medium heat; gradually whisk in soy (or other) milk.  Heat until simmering; add chocolate, give it a good stir and let sit off heat for a few minutes (until chocolate is melted) then whisk well to combine.  Stir cornflour slurry until well-mixed and whisk in, together with vanilla essence.  Cook over medium heat until mixture is thickened to slightly less than desired consistency (it will thicken further as it cools).

Pour mixture evenly over crushed biscuit base and scatter berries evenly over surface.  Chill 1-2 hours or until ready to serve.

Being permanently in search of the perfect chocolate cake recipe, I had to try this one. "Made with cocoa powder, melted bittersweet chocolate, sour cream, and brown sugar, this cake is rich, moist, and a treat for the hungry school kid in you."  It also uses no butter, which is an advantage when one hasn't been to the shops in over a week!  (Yes, I have bittersweet chocolate and sour cream readily to hand, but no butter to spare.  Such is my life...)

My large cake tins have all gone walkabout (what did you do with my tin-base, people-next-door?) but luckily the recipe specifies that it can be used to make 24 cupcakes instead of one large cake.  I only have one cupcake tin and no patience to do two batches in a row, so I halved the recipe... and then had to make a few more adjustments: demerara instead of brown sugar, an extra egg because the mix seemed too dry.  Still, they came out ok: light and spongy, tender, dark and moist.  Another bonus feature of these cakes is that unlike most cupcakes, they come out with nice flat tops, which can be an advantage for certain sorts of decorating.

Finally, I had no Cocoa Puffs (do they even sell Cocoa Puffs here in the UK?) so regular buttercream frosting had to do instead.  And here they are, boxed up and ready!

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup minus 2 tbs flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda (next time I think I'd use 1/2 tsp each)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup creme fraiche (ok, I lied about having sour cream)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
100ml boiling water
1 tsp coffee powder
100g dark chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 185C.  Sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix creme fraiche, oil and eggs until combined.  Add to dry ingredients and mix to form a fairly stiff batter.  Dissolve coffee powder in hot water and mix in.  Stir in dark chocolate.

Spoon mixture into cupcake cases.  I filled mine to about 1cm from the top and they rose over the tops of the tins and puffed out a bit; if you want them contained in their cases don't put too much in!  I got 15 cakes out of this quantity -- three had to be baked without the benefit of a tin and became somewhat deformed as a result (but still tasted good)!

Vegan Dinner Party: Part 2 - Roasted cauliflower and baba ganoush

Following on from my previous post about last week's vegan dinner party, here's the next recipe installment, for the main course of roasted cauliflower and chickpea salad with baba ganoush. 

As I think I have mentioned before, eggplant/aubergine is one of my very favourite things to eat.  In baba ganoush, which is basically a roasted eggplant puree, it bears very little resemblance to its usual texture, form or flavour but is still delicious.  Usually served as a dip, baba ganoush takes the soft flesh of the eggplant, tasting of a subtle smokiness imparted by the charred skin, and combines it with tahini, garlic and lemon to make the best thing ever to put on sliced bread.  (Well, maybe the second best or the third best... beetroot dip has to be up there too, and simple ripe tomato slices with a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper.  Mmmmm.)

Some versions of this dish are loaded with tahini and olive oil to the point that the dip almost becomes a mayonnaise, creamy and thick-textured.  I prefer the kind where you can still tell it was once an aubergine, where the puree is more juicy than creamy, and with plenty of lemon.  I added sliced basil to this version, and might add a dash of chilli next time if cooking for other spiceheads like me.

Instead of using it as a dip, in this case I used it as a base on which to pile crispy, spice-coated florets of roasted cauliflower and chickpeas.  Since discovering roasted cauliflower last year I have made it on several occasions, including for parties as a nibble and Christmas dinner as an accompaniment, but it really is good enough to eat as the main event in itself, and eminently suitable for a vegan dinner.  Chickpeas and flaked almonds add a bit of extra body, and a squeeze of fresh lemon perks up everything.  I added soft strips of roasted pepper on the top for even more flavour, spooned some tomato-cucumber-onion-parsley salsa around for freshness, and garnished with a few crisp-baked pita wedges for texture -- and as a nod to the more familiar form of baba ganoush.

Baba ganoush
5 medium aubergines
1/3 cup tahini
2 lemons
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded
salt, pepper

Place whole eggplants under a hot grill and cook until skin is blackened (it will turn lighter first as it cooks, then start to char); turn and cook similarly on other side.  Continue to cook until flesh is very soft.  Once eggplants are cool enough to handle, cut in half and scoop out flesh, stripping off skin.  Add tahini, zest of both lemons and juice of one, garlic and olive oil; whiz with hand blender (or mash well with fork) until pureed but not completely smooth.  Stir in basil, taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt, freshly-ground pepper and extra lemon juice as required.

Roasted cauliflower
2 large cauliflowers
2 tbs olive oil
3 tbs ground cumin
3 tbs ground coriander
1 tbs chilli powder
1 tbs chilli flakes
1 1/2 tbs sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup flaked almonds
lemon
Optional: chopped herbs (parsley or coriander), fresh chilli

Cut cauliflower into 2-inch pieces, cutting across some of the florets to expose inner surfaces (this gives extra surface area to develop brown crispy bits and deep roasted flavours).  Steam for about 5 minutes, or until just tender to a knife but still very firm.  Drain and allow to steam-dry.

Heat oven to 230C.  Toss cauliflower with olive oil, then with spices and almonds.  Spread evenly on baking tray, allowing enough space so that florets roast, rather than steam in their own moisture.  Roast for about 25 minutes or until brown, crisp and beginning to blacken just a little at the very edges.  Zest lemon over and squeeze juice. 

(Some fresh herbs are nice to sprinkle over; fresh chopped red chilli is an amazing addition but can be dangerously hot!)

Note: The above amounts made plenty for 5 people with some left over for lunch the next day.  For the chickpeas, I used two tins and roasted them the same way as the cauliflower, using a smaller amount of the same spices without the almonds, then put them all in a bowl at the end before adding the lemon zest and juice and tossing the whole lot together.  Next time I might use just one tin and not cook them quite so long, as they were a tiny bit dry.

Vegan Dinner Party: Part 1 - vegetable tempura

I used to throw Proper Dinner Parties, way back when (I had time, a proper house, decent furniture, etc etc).  They were elaborate, multi-course affairs, beginning with cocktails and elegant nibbles at around 7, progressing through small tasters, plated starter and main course, dessert and petits fours, all accompanied by matching wines, at a relaxed pace and finishing some time after midnight. Nowadays my usual entertaining style is to throw together a huge bunch of random food, pile it all out of the kitchen in a steady stream, let people help themselves and keep the drinks flowing.  But last weekend I decided it was time to return to something a bit more traditional.  I invited a few friends over, keeping the guest list deliberately small (doing a plated main for any more than about 6 people just wouldn't be possible in my current kitchen), and as one guest was vegan and another vegetarian, I planned a(n almost) completely vegan menu.

We began with cocktails made from grapefruit zest muddled with lemon, Campari (1 measure), gin (2 measures), Cointreau (1/2 measure was all I had left), sugar syrup (1 measure) and lemon juice (another splash).  They came out a beautiful pink colour and delightfully zesty, with a palate-tantalising bitterness from the grapefruit and Campari.  Nibbles were wasabi peas and (sadly non-vegan, the only item that was) chipotle-flavoured crisps.  (What's non-vegan about chipotle crisps, you ask?  Whey powder.  Why whey?  I don't know.  Curse you, Walkers.)

To get us properly going, next up was broccoli, asparagus and courgette tempura.  I'm a sucker for anything deep-fried; I also love green vegetables.  Tempura broccoli works particularly well -- there's just something about the way the crisp batter clings to the tender but satisfyingly textured florets, plus the savoury complexity of almost-charred cruciferous vegetable, that makes it the ultimate vegetable for the purpose.  Asparagus and courgette are similarly tender but with different flavours.  Combined with a delicately sweet, gingered soy for dipping, and a glass of Prosecco, it was a simple but delicious starter.

(By the time I thought to take a picture, we'd already eaten most of it...!)

Next course was a rich tomato soup, laced with chilli, lime, black pepper and a dash of gin (no photos but recipe loosely based on The Food Lab's vegan 'creamy' tomato soup, except for, well, the chilli, lime and gin, and with a bit less olive oil).

For main course: roasted spiced cauliflower and chickpea salad on eggplant puree, served with fresh tomato salsa and pita crisps (recipes to follow), accompanied by patatas bravas and a rocket, citrus and beetroot salad (thanks again, Kenji -- I used my standard honey-mustard-lemon vinaigrette rather than the pinenut-sherry-vinegar version, but the grapefruit and beetroot combination was a winner).

[Perhaps Blogger's photo capacity has run out -- my three attempts to upload this picture have resulted, respectively, in a strange red-only version; a half-coloured, half-fuzzy version and a half-only version.  Next time, Gadget...] ETA: aha!

Dessert was chocolate raspberry cake; recipe later perhaps.

For now, here's how I made the tempura:

Batter
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups iced water

Sift all dry ingredients together.  Just before frying, add iced water; stir with chopsticks until just combined (lumps are ok).  [This made too much batter for the below amount of vegetables; I could have done another batch at least with what was left.  Half the amount did about 8 pieces broccoli, 10 pieces courgette and a dozen or so mushrooms.  Go figure...]

Vegetables
I used:
1 small head broccoli, cut into 2-inch florets (about 12 pieces)
12 stalks asparagus
1 small courgette, cut into about 1-1.5cm slices (about 12 pieces)

Dip vegetables in turn and fry in batches: broccoli will take about 4 min, asparagus and courgette 2 min each.  Drain on kitchen towel and then serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs mirin
1 tbs pickled ginger juice
1 tbs chinkiang or balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbs sugar syrup