Ashy's vegetarian recipes ©2002
People think bird watching is a bit weird. I don't think it is. I think many of the people who watch birds are a bit weird. I like birds. I think they're one of the things which make our planet interesting and beautiful. Without them, it wouldn't be the same. My daughter said recently that I look like a bird. We were discussing 'cat people' and 'dog people' and I said she looked like a cat while her husband looked like a dog. She couldn't decide whether I looked like a cat or a dog, but finally decided I looked like a bird.
I don't often tell people I'm a bird watcher. At best it's considered a bit sad, at worst it's viewed as an indicator of mild autism. I wouldn't say I'm a serious bird watcher though - I think I've got a sense of humour.
You may have noticed I'm digressing even more than usual, so I'll get back to the point - there is one and it is connected to bird watching. When I was on the island, another young volunteer - Derek - came to help out for a week and on his first day, he came over from the kitchen, where he had been banging about (I say 'over' because we shared a big wooden hut with only one room and the kitchen was at one end and everything else was at the other). He had a tin of baked beans in his hand. 'How do you cook these, then?' he asked.
Here's my recipe and after you've had a look at it you might want to click here for a short story about bird watching.
By the way, I was born in the year of the rabbit.
Ingredients
Cold left-over mashed potato
A cup of flour
I onion (red onions are great for this)
1 large tomato
Some cream cheese (goat's cheese?)
Chilli powder and Salt
Oil for frying
Sliced bread
Sprinkle the flour on a plate then, using your hands, make patties out of the potato and put them on the plate. Turn them over, lift them up and pat them again - make sure they're well covered with flour. That's the hardest part over. Now heat the oil in a frying pan then lay the patties in it. Let them cook for about 6 or 7 minutes each side at a medium heat, until they are nice and crisp and golden on the outside. While that's happening, slice the onion and tomato and spread one piece of bread with cream cheese for each sandwich.
Make sandwiches starting with a piece of dry bread, then a patty, then a slice each of onion and tomato in that order, followed by a pinch each of salt and chilli powder and finally a slice of bread with cheese (cheese side down, Derek.) Pushkar sandwiches. Magnificent!