Fun Monday# 34 Family Favourite

Lisa the The Food Snob is hosting the fun today. I somehow thought that our task might just be related to food!!

Lisa wants to see our favorite recipe, be it either because our grandmother wrote it, it's the easiest thing we can slap together that everyone likes, it makes us feel healthy, it's cheap, etc. We don't have to make it (although we could if we want) She says to let us see the index card, cookbook, printed paper from the web, and why it's a favorite in our house. If you have a lot, just pick one, I know I'll have to!

This is going to be really difficult because I'm not sure that I really have a favourite recipe. I'm a phase person. I cook something we like and then I do it several times in fairly quick succession and then move on. I actuallly like trying out new recipes that I find on my favourite food blogs. Also I think I have already posted lots of family favourite recipes so I'm going to leave links to previous posts (cheating a bit-I know). Some of you will have seen my Lemon Cake, Somerset Apple Cake and Apple Crumble. Fruit bread which is a good standby as it freezes well. I love a good Cottage Pie (or Shepherds Pie if I have lamb).
Rather than a particular recipe it's a full meal that is a family favourite in this house hold- the traditional Roast Beef with all the trimmings.

Having opted out of following the rules I'm going to show you some photos of the family lunch that we had yesterday. Sam will be doing a full post on this later in the week so this is a taster! Following photos are copyright sam breach.



How about having a guess at what we ate!!
Lisa sorry I didn't keep to your rules; I will get around to visting everyone and I'm hoping to find some more recipes to try out!

Archives:
September 24th 2006: Bramleys are Best

My Mate........

If you hate marmite I would leave now!!!

If you are a regular reader then you may remember my previous posts about my quest for the limited edition of Guinness marmite which embee finally managed to get for me back in March, while I was in Spain. Two of the jars were dispatched to San Fransisco, one for Sam and the other for Cookiecrumb who had never tried it. I was hoping she would love it and I think her first tastings suggest she is well on the way. Tuesday, Cookiecrumb (thank you for the links) wrote about her marmite experience (drop by and see what she says) and she was asking about recipes. This prompted me write this post as I do have a cookery book but you will see from the photo it is in pristine condition which shows how much I use it!

I only very occasionally use marmite to flavour a dish, much preferring it on toast in a sandwich or with pitta bread, oh and it's wonderful with crisps (chips) but quite a lot of salt so I rarely undulge now. Looking through the recipes in this book it does seem marmite is being used for flavouring. I was quite surprised to to see this book is still available! I had mine back in 1992.

I found another marmite recipe book on Amazon written by Paul Hartley He has also written a Coleman's Mustard book.

Some more recipe ideas here (some are seriously weird Marmite Strawberry/Peanut butter melt yuk- if this had been my first taste of marmite I don't think I would eating it now)
even Gary Rhodes uses marmite!!
and marmite toastie can be found on calorie count.

So Cookiecrumb if you read this just let me know if I need me to bring you another jar or squeezy pot when I next visit Sam!!

Super Natural Cooking

I was very excited when a parcel arrived in the post from Amazon. I guessed it was a present from Sam (Mothering Sunday) and she'd hinted that it was something not yet available in England. I was actually chatting, on the phone, to Beccy at the time the postie rang the bell. This was good because if I'd been out and missed the delivery I would have had to collect it next week. You can imagine my delight when I opened the package to see I have this super cookbook that Sam was so excited about when she was given a copy by the author. I couldn't find the the post in her archives to give the link but I did find this reference on her fun Monday post when Beccy hosted.



When I did the meme earlier I think I said I had 81+ cookery books that should now read 82+. There is such a lot of helpful information in this book and I have seen several recipes I am really keen to try as soon as possible.

Big thank you Sam :) xxx

Fun Monday # 8

My daughter, Beccy, is the host of Fun Monday this week and she has realised that food has not yet been featured. So as she loves to eat and we all need to eat to survive her challenge is...

to post a recipe that would inspire her to get into the kitchen to chop, cut, grate, boil, steam, roast, chill, freeze and eat, eat, eat (sounds good to me).

Photographs are not necessary but may help tempt her taste buds! You will find all the frenzied cooks listed on Pepermint Tea.

When you read this post I will actually be sunning myself on the Costa del Sol in Spain so this is one I prepared earlier and all Beccy has to do for me is to make sure it's published on the day. I will not get to read all your delicious recipes until I return but I'm looking forward to finding a lot of new dishes to add to my repetoire.

This is not particularly imaginative as lack of time means I am just sharing a meal I prepared this week for my hubby. He is very fond of sausages, although I can take them or leave them but here is

TOAD IN THE HOLE

The sausages look a bit overcooked but that was just my poor photography.

Serves 4
Cooking time 35-40 mins
Oven temp 450-475 F Gas 7-8
then 375 F Gas 4-5

Recipe
Basic batter:
4 oz flour (plain) (approx100-125g)
pinch salt
1 egg
1/2 pt milk (aprox 300ml)

Method:
Sieve flour (if necessary I don't) add salt
Add egg add about a 1/4 of milk and stir until blended and then beat until smooth.
You can either beat in all the rest of milk or stand mixture for 15 mins and gradually add remainder of milk.
When batter becomes thinner, use egg whist to aerate the mixture. (many people believe it is better to let the batter stand in a cold place for a short time

T-I-H
1oz (25g) fat (lard is best)
1lb (450g)
Put the fat in pan and heat approx 4 mins add sausages and cook 8-10 mins (approx) (I actually par cooked sausages in separate pan to pour off extra fat)
Pour batter over sausages and cook in a very hot oven for about 10 mins until batter begins to rise. Lower heat to moderste and bake until golden brown.
You can add extras to this e.g. halved tomatoes or mushrooms.


I thought I would also leave you with a photo that might temp you to follow links to an earlier post of mine. There you will find another link to a very easy recipe for Somerset Apple Cake(with cinnamon) posted on 'bread water salt oil's' food blog.

Tomato Penne Bake

I love Asha's weekly Wednesday post and after seeing this pasta recipe last week I decided to make it for dinner yesterday evening. I knew there would be plenty left over that hubby could easily re-heat as I'm off to Dublin today to visit Beccy and Co. I adapted the ingredients to suit what I had to hand and it worked perfectly. I diced (quite small), rather than grated, my veg (onions, carrot, celery, red pepper, cherry toms) which gave them a slightly crunchy texture (depends how well cooked you like your veg). I used, minced beef, cartons of tomato with basil and oregano and added my own garlic; I also used ordinary mature cheddar cheese as well as parmesan. This makes a very tasty pasta dish and I will certainly be making it again, so hope I've tempted you to give it a try. Big thank to Asha I'm looking forward to seeing what you dish up for us later today.

My version of Blueberry Breakfast (Anytime) Bars

I saw a mouth watering picture that Barbara at winosandfoodies had posted of what looked like a delicious snack and decided that I just had to try it. This is a recipe, using among other things blueberries and oats, that Barbara found on Farmgirl's blog. You will find the link to the recipe on Barbara's post therefore will not include it here.
So making sure that I bought sufficient blueberries I decided to give it a go yesterday. I didn't have the recommended size pan so mine probably turned out a little thicker than intended but I still managed to cut into sixteen.

As I was preparing the ingredients it seemed like the layers were going to be quite a rich consistency and when cooked I personally found it was quite sweet, although my mother thought it was fine. However, when (not if) I make them again I'm going to put in a little less sugar and see what happens. I have a lot of blackberries and loganberries in my freezer so intend to use up some perfecting this recipe.
I know these are called 'Breakfast Bars' but I agree with Barbara they are delicious at any time and you could serve them as a hot dessert and then cool the remainder for later, that's if there are any left!!

PS You might like to know that my friend Tina's verdict is "mmmmmmm they're almost orgasmic" so get baking!!!!!

Baked Salmon en Papillote or my version of Salmon Parcels

Looking through the cookery book Sam gave me for Christmas I came across this recipe for 'Baked Salmon en Papillote' this recipe was not dissimilar to one that had been in a Sunday supplement about a year ago for Chicken parcels. So using these recipes as a guide for cooking times, I decided that I would make my own version which is something I rarely do as I am a follow the recipe and you can't go wrong type of cook (and despite this is still does).

The vegetables I used are potatoes, turnips, courgettes and carrots. All chopped into small sticks and into boiling water for 5 mins before draining and placing on the baking parchment (I used greaseproof paper; this needs to be large enough to make the parcel). I skinned the salmon and added lime juice, seasoning and some olive oil brushed over the salmon.


The paper is then folded exactly like a parcel and the joined ends are placed down onto the baking tray to keep secured. Bake in oven 180c (fan) approx 30 mins. I think for fish this was slightly too long so next time I will probably try around 20mins.
You can serve in the parcel and allow individuals to open the parcel when turned up the other way the fish will be on top of the vegetables.


This is the end result a simple healthy meal which I garnished with parsley before serving. Verdict 'clean plates' so draw you own conclusion.

Macaroni cheese

Having read Cookiecrumb's and several other posts about macaroni cheese and also seeing her wonderful slide show (wish I could do slide shows) it reminded me that this is a dish Mike likes but one that I rarely make. So I decided today was the time to indulge him as I had quite a lot of cheese in the fridge to be used up. Second reason and probably more significant was the fact that I had not planned our evening meal and I had been on the phone for nearly three hours trying to sort out a few things which have been put on hold during the last ten days so I needed to do something quickly.

Does anyone find it difficult to resolve issues with a machine or if you're lucky a human voice over the phone and am I the only one who would like to be going back to the time when you could physically visit an office/ shop and speak face to face.

a) a problem with the electricity supplier, who was threatening me about not keeping to an agreement for monthly payment plan. I was puzzled by the letters because I pay a sum by standing order. I knew I was in credit so was not prepared to increase the monthly amount by £30 as they were suggesting. Well would you! that money is better in my pocket than their's. When I finally got to speak to 'a person' he could not tell me why I was being threatened he kept saying it was the computers fault. He then found out that I (so say owed £63:20) but he couldn't tell me why as he acknowledged I had always been in credit. I could tell he was was not happy at my insistance that I wanted an answer. He then said he wanted to speak to someone else (on hold again). This is the comical bit "the computer had sent the letter because I had not upped my monthly payments as had been suggested after they did a review of my (in credit) account. Are you still with me they were expecting me to pay the increase for past two months with administrative fees on an account that was in credit. Can you believe this. Then he wanted new meter readings which I gave him, he then put me on hold for ages while he worked out a prediction on what I might use next year and concluded that the amount I was paying did not need to be changed. I then decided to try and speak to a supervisor but no luck. The guy said I should to contact my bank and re-instate the monthly order which he said they had cancelled. I thought this was odd as I knew it was a standing order and I had certainly not cancelled the payment. But hey ho I called the bank (another wait for connection) to find that the order was still in place next payment due out tomorrow and bank confirmed that only I could alter the payment details. So I had never defaulted, which I already knew as you cannot default on something you have never agreed to in the first place. I would really love to change my electricity supplier but I don't have the energy. When my friend Tina tried to do this recently they suddenly accused her of being in arrears for over £2000 for electricity supply to a garage. She has lived in her house for over 20 years and there has never been a garage to the house. Eventually they discovered this was a neighbour's account. Again computer blamed; doesn't human error come into the equation or do computers operate themselves!!

b) next issue was renewal of my car insurance, I had a quote but my details needed changing as I no longer need business cover and will be doing less mileage. I was hoping this would give me a lower quote. Just as all the information was being fed into the computer the person on the phone line said her computer had crashed and she would call me back in 10 mins. Twenty five mins later I got the call, she was very aplogetic but had got the payment reduced by a few more pounds so that was a positive.

By now it was 5pm and I couldn't face c) making an insurance claim, so that's for another day.

I have totally digressed from the meal but I thought macaroni would be very quick as I managed to cook it while I was waiting for the call back. As hubby was due home anytime I knew I would not be able to add bacon and mushrooms (I know feeble excuse he could have waited) and it would have added a little extra something to the dish. So instead it was turned out to be very basic, however, the (good) pinch of cayenne gave the sauce a kick and the topping of grated cheese and (homemade) breadcrumbs worked well giving a nice crunchy topping.

Using up the beef.

Today was one of those days when I was glad I stayed in bed for an extra hour. Even before I opened the curtains I could hear the rain and it remained miserable for most of the day. I was actually tempted to jump back into bed but I had to brave the elements to collect the daily papers which I then read over a leisurely breakfast. Oh and I completed the quick crossword, with Mike's help on one clue. When it came to making dinner I had nothing planned but I knew there was some cold beef that had to be used and I decided to make a pot luck Cottage Pie as I also had lots of vegetables. You can see from the photos below how it turned out.

I have a very old Robot Chef Food Processor so old it's no longer in production and a quick search tells me it's the Robot coupe that the latest. Well mine may look antiquated but it still works (chopping the meat very quickly) so I don't think I will be buying a new one anytime soon.



I fried some chopped onions and courgettes (Zucchinis) and added diced carrot red pepper and more courgettes that had been zapped in microwave.






Added meat, oxo gravy, worchester sauce, salt and pepper






Topped with creamed desiree potatoes (added couple of tablespoons cream a little butter, salt and pepper and a small amount of grated cheese to produce a very smooth consistency. Now if I was a food blogger I would have piped this on evenly. As I'm not I plonked it on smoothed with knike and patterned with fork before popping it in the oven to brown.


While the pie was browning I cooked some extra vegetables and the end result was quite tasty with a nice glass of wine.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Beccy planned to meet up with a friend today so I decided to make soup for a quick lunch. Beccy has an agreement with Mollie that if she eats this soup she doesn't have to eat broccoli but it's still a bit of a struggle for her. She managed it encouraged by the thought of icecream (bribary works wonders sometimes). The cream combined with cheese does make this quite a rich soup (quite good for dinner parties).

Recipe:
2 Onions
2oz (50g) butter
1 Pint (600ml) stock (I used fresh turkey stock today)
3 oz (75g) grated Cheddar cheese
1/4 pt (150ml) single cream
salt and pepper.
Method:
Peel slice onions cook in butter over gentle heat until soft. Trim and chop broccoli and add to pan, turning in buttery juices for a minute or two. Add stock simmer for 20 mins. Liquidise and season to taste, stir in cream and cheese over gentle heat until well amalgamated.

While the family were out I decided to do some baking having promised Ben a lemon cake and Beccy an apple and cinnamon cake. Both met with approval.

I am sure our dinner today is the same as many other families 'turkey curry' and I still have enough turkey left for one more meal. I think that will have to be a turkey and ham pie or turkey croquettes.

Lunch a la barbara (winosandfoodies)

After trying out Barbara's delicious 'sort of omlette' see winosandfoodies on the day of her post I decided to try it out on hubby. I didn't have much time for cooking today so something quick was ideal especially as you don't have to stand over this like a traditional omlette. I had a pepper in the fridge so added some slices in with the tomatoes and the end result was served with side salad. The verdict from himself was a clean plate so it must have been good. So thank you Barbara.
I also just wanted to share this photo of Birds of Paradise which are so pretty.

Organic Recipes ' Little Red Goosberries' Daphne Lambert

Beccy gave me this interesting cookery book over a year ago, and although I have dipped into it, as I try to buy as much organic food as possible, I have only just started to try the recipes. I wanted to find out more about the author and Penrhos and this makes interesting reading. The author is a chef and nutritionist and she is involved with "Green Cuisine School of Food and Health' which run courses such as Women's Health, Permanent Weight loss and Sports Nutrition.
If you are looking for a cookery book with lots of glossy pictures then this is not the book for you (normally I like to see what the end result should look like but this way means you produce your own unique version). The recipes are divided into seasons with starters, main course and puddings.

This week I made her 'Carrot and Ginger Soup' which she says 'makes a glorious golden-orange colour and the hint of ginger makes it very warming when the weather turns chilly'. I have to say I agree and my mother also seemed to enjoy it but I suspect that's because she only had to heat it .



Recipe:
700g ( 1.5 lbs) carrots
1 medium onion.
2.5 (1ins) cube fresh root ginger
50g (2oz) butter
1.2 litres (2 pints) vegetable stock.
Salt and pepper
Fresh Corriander to garnish.
Method:
Scrub carrots trim and chop, also chop onion
Peel and grate ginger.
Melt butter stir in carrot and onion- sweat for 5 mins. Stir in ginger and cook for another 3 mins.
Add stock, cover simmer 15 mins. Cool and blend until smooth. Season as required.
Garnish fresh corriander.

As you can see this is a quick easy recipe, taking very little preparation and cooking. Give it a try.

Coffee with Clare

Our plans for today had to be hastily re-arranged as Mollie woke up with an upset tummy and had to stay home from school. We had planned to visit Clare (a friend of Beccy's who I now know quite well) for coffee so that we could try her Kerry Apple cake and I was also very keen to see her new kitchen which was installed back in the summer. However, once we had explained our situation, Clare readily agreed to come here for coffee and bring her cake and Beccy had made cookies last night so there was plenty of naughty but nice snacks. I am ignoring my conscience that is saying 'this would not be good if it was next week and you were recording all the food that passes your lips for Sam's challenge.

Clare arrived bearing a 'just out of the oven' Kerry Apple Cake and cream. If you are wondering we indulged in two small pieces each with our coffee, not at all good for the waistline, but it was served warm as intended and was deliciously moreish. The couple of hours we spent catching up went by very quickly and I agreed I would see Clare's kitchen next time I visit.
Here is the recipe:

KERRY APPLE CAKE
8 oz Plain Flour
4 oz Butter/Marg
4 oz Sugar
1 level tsp Baking Powder
3 Medium cooking apples
1 tsp grated lemon rind
Pinch salt
1 large egg + little milk
3 tblsp Brown Sugar
Pinch nutmeg/cinnamon

METHOD

Rub fat into sifted flour, then add sugar, salt, baking powder.

Prepare apples and chop finely, then mix into flour mixture. Beat the eggs and stir in, adding a little milk if needed to make a not too firm dough. Finally, add the grated lemon rind.

Put the mixture into a well greased and lined 7- inch (18cm) tin. Sprinkle the top with brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon mixture. Bake at Gas Mark 4 (350 F) for 40-45 mins. Serve warm with cream if possible.

As you can see by afternoon Mollie was feeling better and was able to watch some TV. She was hungry so that's always a good sign. She was less keen to catch up on homework but did after a little persuasion





Ben returned home from school about 1:30pm and after he had a quick snack it was my pleasure to listen to him read. He read me a whole beginners book and I was amazed at how much progress he had made since the summer. Yesterday to help pass the time in the car I was giving him some simple maths (adding /subtractions) to do and he got everyone right which impressed me. I know Sam, Grandma's are easily impressed, and rightly proud of their children's/grandchildren's achievements.

Dining a la O'Sullivan

I was delighted to find that my son-in-law, Joules had set me up a file on their computer so that I can easily post my blog. I think they thought I might get withdrawal symptoms!! So although I may not post every day I am sure there will be plenty to write about.

The journey was uneventful and I arrived in Dublin safely and on time. For once the baggage reclaim was very quick and I took the Aircoach to Leopardstown (home of the famous Irish Racecourse) where Beccy and Ben picked me up and took me home for a family dinner. There was a wonderful aroma of baked bread as we opened the door. Beccy had tried the recipe recommended by June at bread, water, salt and oil. Everyone loved it, particularly Dillon who had been sampling it before we arrived. Having had a piece toasted for breakfast today I agree it does make delicious toast as well. I think this is going to be a daily bake from now on, there are two being prepared as I type.

We enjoyed roast chicken and all the trimmings followed by a delicious pavlova washed down with a bottle of something fizzy. Beccy makes a superb Pavlova and she was trying a new filling which she was told was from a New Zealand recipe. This was layers of lemon curd, cream and pomegranate and it was delicious. Barbara if you read this you might be able to let us know if it originated from NZ.

It's nice to see friends.

A couple of my friends called in for a quick coffee and chat this morning. I knew they were planning to visit so I thought it would be nice to bake a cake rather than just open a packet of biscuits. I had rather a lot of oranges so decided to try an orange cake. The end result was a light moist cake but as far as I was concerned it did not taste very 'orangey' although it looked it. During the preparation I stuck to the recipe- big mistake. I really knew it would have been better to drizzle/infuse the top with icing sugar and squeezed orange juice. My friends had clean plates so it couldn't have been too bad. It was nice to catch up and we had a good natter for an hour before they went back to work and......

I rushed around getting a lot of last minute jobs done before I fly off to Dublin, tomorrow afternoon, to see Beccy, Joules and the grandchildren. My mother, who has not been well, had an appointment with her doctor and luckily he feels her chest infection has responded to the antibiotics so I think she will cope while I am away. I've been shopping so she's well stocked with food as is Mike (I know he will happily cook himself lots of unhealthy snack type meals or get takeaways).

If you read my Friday's post I mentioned how I was going to turn the remainder of the "champ' into a pie and this proved very successful. All I did was add grilled crispy bacon, chopped cooked mushrooms and grated cheese and baked. It's a quick, tasty supper dish, which goes well with a side salad and a glass of wine.

I may get the opportunity to post from Dublin but if not I will be back on November 20th. See you then.

Traditional Champ

As I don't have to cook dinner tonight (Mike is eating out) I was wondering what I could concoct for my lunch out of the meagre ingredients left in my fridge. I decided to look for some recipes to use the organic leeks that had been languishing there since Monday. I came across this basic Irish dish of potatoes mashed with leeks served with lashings of melted butter. The information went on to say it makes an ideal accompaniment to grilled gammon. Well I had some thick traditionally cured ham infused with Juniper berries, Rosemary, Bay leaves and mixed herbs, and then glazed with heather honey so I thought why not. The ham was from a range of foods produced by the the Prince of Wales Dutchy Selections Free Range which is part of his Dutchy Originals some of the proceeds help support his charitable Foundation.

The recipe comes from a book called '100 Great Potato Recipes' produced by 'Dealerfield a company created in the mid 1980's to exploit the concept of offering books, stationery and other giftware to customers in the workplace, through the use of self contained displays.'

The books and other items used to be left in the office, for about a week, several times throughout the year and I often got tempted to buy a cookery book. I have probably had this one for about 8 years and have only tried a couple of the recipes.

Traditional Champ:

75g/3 oz butter
125ml/4 fl.oz milk
2 leeks chopped
6-8 potatoes cut into even pieces
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method;
1 Put 75g/1 oz butter and the milk in a frying pan over medium heat. Stir until butter melts and add leeks. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10-15 mins or until the leeks are soft, stirring occasionally (personally I think you might need a little more milk and butter depending on size of leeks and as you can see from the photo mine were rather large)

2 Meanwhile, put potatoes in large pan salted water bring to boil, cover and simmer until soft (recipe says 20 mins too long if potatoes cut in smallish chunks)

3 Add cooked leeks and their cooking liquid to the potatoes and beat until potatoes are well blended and creamy. Season with salt and pepper. (I skimped on the creaming process so mine was not as smooth as recipe suggests, again this is where you might need extra milk/cream if you want to make it special)

4 Spoon potato mixture into a warm serving dish , make a well in centre. Add remaining butter and serve immediately. (I think this could actually be served in small individual portions as a variation to other meals e.g. sausages/mash substitute the butter for onion gravy- all you clever cooks can probably think a lot more imaginatively than me so ideas would be appreciated. I do have one idea for using up the remainder (as below).

Ideally the consistency should be a lot more creamy looking and I think you could add cheese for additional flavour. As I made rather a lot, tomorrow, it will become a pie with cheese, bacon and mushrooms





It was a simple dish, quickly prepared, that went well with the subtle flavour of the ham. The cookery book suggested a crisp, country wine from France but I decided not at lunch time. A couple of hours later I went for a swim to work off all the calories, if I had drunk wine I might not have made it to the pool.

Sam's Toulouse Sausage, Bacon and Green lentils

I may not be a good cook but I can follow a recipe. So when Sam posted this yummy looking recipe last week I knew I had to give it a try, particularly as sausages are one of my hubby's favourite foods. Now we don't have a Fatted Calf so I had to make do with what the supermarket could offer, which I'm sure is an inferior Toulouse sausage but Mike won't know the difference.

Last night when I asked him for red wine for cooking (I wouldn't dare to raid the cellar as I would probably choose some special vintage he has hidden away) he went out and bought me a small bottle, it was just about the right amount.

It's an easy recipe and I think the end result looks something akin to Sam's and I can vouch that it tasted good having sampled just a soupcon for my lunch. I will now have to wait for the verdict from Mike!!

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Well it started with this, or at least a half share given to me by a friend as we both wanted to try and make pumpkin soup after enjoying it on a recent holiday. Having looked through a few of my own cookery books I decided to use the internet to find the perfect recipe and as you can imagine I was spoilt for choice. I finally opted for a curried version because the only ingredient I needed to buy was peppers
(could not post link but you will find recipes at www.mom-mom.com/pumpkin_soup_recipes.htm).

This is what you need for:

Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 med onion, peeled and quartered
1 lg. jalapeno pepper, seeded and -coarsely chopped
2 Stalks celery, cut into -2-inch lengths
3 lg. Carrots, peeled and sliced -1/4 inch thick
2 tbsp. Olive oil
1 3/4 lb. pumpkin, peeled, -seeded, and cut -into 1-inch dice
3 c Low-salt chicken stock
1 Bay leaf
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. Turmeric
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 c shelled raw pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp. sour cream (optional)

Place garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add onion and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside. Place jalapeno in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add celery and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside. Place carrots in food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Heat 1 tbsp. of the olive oil in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add jalapeno, celery, and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, chicken stock, bay leaf, curry, turmeric, cayenne, 1 tsp. of the salt, and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan, heat remaining tbsp. of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin seeds and remaining 1/2 t salt and cook for about 30 seconds, shaking pan constantly to prevent burning, until all the seeds have popped. Remove from heat and add parsley.

Place 2 cups of the cooked vegetables and about 1/2 cups of the liquid in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Stir puree back into the soup. Adjust seasonings, and stir in the sour cream, if desired. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds.

As this was the first time of making I did follow the recipe exactly as detailed. This made the preparation quite a lengthy process and created a lot of dirty dishes. If I make it again I think I would cut some corners and sauté everything together. I over roasted the pumpkin seeds but that was not a major problem.

The end result is a thick spicy soup that is very welcome on a cold day.

Mike (hubby) tried a bowlful when he got in from work and yes he said he enjoyed it. Would he dare to say differently!!!! and I wonder if Tina has got around to making her soup yet. I shall have to ring her and find out.

Making the most of my Bramleys

Instead of sitting in front of the TV last night I was having a blog browse and was rather taken with a recipe for a 'Somerset Apple Cake' that was recommended by June of 'bread water salt oil'. Yesterday, she wrote about the best cooking apple in the world . The history June provides of this versatile apple is very interesting and you will find the recipe there. Many agree that Bramleys are best, myself and Sam at becks&posh included. So as I had the Bramleys and all the other ingredients this inspired me to get baking before breakfast. I am really pleased with the result (though not sure my version looks quite the same as June's). The aroma of cinnamon is making us drool (my mother keeps commenting on the wonderful smell). Somehow I cannot justify cake for breakfast and anyway it's too hot to cut at the moment so I'll stick to my muesli and save the pleasure for later.


Having done some chores and the weekly shop it was home for coffee and cake. My mother declared it to be delicious and I have to say I could not disagree. It was moist with a subtle taste of the cinnamon, I actually wondered if I should have used a little more cinnamon or maybe I just need a new tub as this one has been in my cupboard for a while. The only problem is it's moreish and I should probably freeze some to stop the temptation. However, my brother is visiting tomorrow so perhaps not and you never know I may get someone call and it's nice to have something homemade to offer. I can see if I'm not careful I will be doing more cooking and piling on even more pounds now I am retired!!
So if you are wondering what to do with spare cooking apples give this a try.

PS You will need to look in becks&posh archives for her amusing Bramley Post.

Apple Crumble

When I was reading the Sunday Mail 'You Magazine' I noticed a section "Autumn Collection' Mood food for the Mellow season. I thought I might try 'Celeriac and Apple Mayonnaise with crisp Bacon' as I had most of the ingredients in the fridge. However having bought celeriac the missing ingredient I still haven't found time to make it so far this week. Instead I decided on the crumble as I still had lots of bramley's to use up. The recipe was actually for blackberry and apple but my crumble is plain apple as I didn't want to stop and defrost blackberries from the freezer. Sam you will be pleased to hear I did not add bran!! When my children were young they were not great with their vegetables and I always added bran to the crumble for extra roughage; they always complained but ate it.

Crumble Serves 8
Bramley Cooking apples 700g
Self-raising flour 225g
Demerara sugar 200g
Blackberries 300g
Unsalted butter175g chilled
Porridge Oats 100g

Pre-heat oven 200c, peel core thinly slice apples place in large bowl (this is my favourite old fashioned mixing bowl) with 2 tbsp flour and half the sugar, then gently mix in blackberries. Then arrange fruit in a shallow 2 litre ovenproof dish. Dice chilled butter. Combine remaining flour, oats and remaining sugar and rub in butter until you have large crumbs like this Scatter crumble over fruit and bake for 35 mins until top is golden brown and crisp and juices are bubbling up at the sides. Leave to cool 20-30 mins ( can be eaten hot or cold)

As Mike is a diabetic I omitted the sugar but added a small amount of sugar substitute and for a variation I added cinnamon to the crumble mix. I also wondered what it would be like with the oats and I have to say it was voted a success (by Mike, my mother and my neighbour, David) and the cinnamon worked well.

Whisky Custard
Whisky 1-2 tbsp
Fresh Custard ( made or cheat buy tub 1x 500ml) Of course you can substitute this for anything you fancy such as cream or ice cream. I decided the Whisky custard would have to wait for another day; I know some would say that's the best part but I have to watch the calories!!