Lentil soup with spiced onions

It's supposed to be good luck to eat lentils for the new year, and by coincidence this soup is easy and nourishing if you happen to have over done it on new years eve.  The spiced onion, yogurt  and lemon topping,  inspired by the flavors in Indian dhal, give a lovely spicy, tangy counterpoint to the soft, mellow flavors of the red lentil soup …. Happy New Year!

Ingredients:

For the soup:

1 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups red lentils, rinsed and sorted

4 sticks celery, chopped

3 small carrots, chopped

1/2 onion chopped

4 tablespoons chopped or strained tomatoes (pasata)  or 2 tablespoons concentrated tomato paste

1/2 cup brown rice

4 cups vegetable broth

3 cup water

2 bay leaves

generous pinch of black pepper

generous pinch of salt

topping:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon turmric

1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes

2 cloves garlic

2 onions, sliced

Natural yogurt

juice of 2 lemons

Method:

Put all the soup ingredients except the salt and pepper, in to a large pan over a high heat.  Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and leave for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, when the soup has been cooking for 20 mins, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the sliced onions and cook over a medium heat for about 7 mins until they're starting to turn brown.

While the onions are cooking, put all the spices and garlic in a mortar bowl, mash all the ingredients with the pestle (or use a food processor if you don't have a mortar and pestle).

Add the garlic and spices to the onions and continue to cook over a medium heat for about 3 mins, stirring to make sure the garlic doesn't burn.

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste, serve topped with a dollop of yogurt, some onions and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Christmas jammy dodgers

Just a quick last minute Christmas one!  My English mince pies are done, but in America it isn't Christmastime without a cookie.  These have an English twist though, Jammy Dodgers are kids favorite in the UK, I've just changed the shape here to make them festive.    These perfect little jam sandwiches do double duty too, the little star cutouts make perfect tree decorations (if they make it that far out of the kitchen!)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Ingredients:

8 oz / 2 cups of plain, all purpose flour

6 oz / 3/4 unsalted butter, chilled and diced,

4 1/4 oz / 2/3 cup of sugar

1 egg yolk

Good raspberry or strawberry jam for the filling

Method:

preheat oven to 350 F

Put the flour and butter in a food mixer and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar and egg yolk and blend until it begins to form a dough.

Take the dough on to a floured surface and knead until smooth.  Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and chill.

Roll out the dough thinly and cut out rounds, using all the dough until you have an even number, place on to prepared baking sheets.  Using a smaller star shaped cutter, cut stars out of half of the cookies (poke little holes in the tops if you plan to use as tree ornaments).

Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes until golden.

When the cookies are cool, spread jam on the whole cookies (the ones without the star cutouts), and place the ones with star cutouts on top.  Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Sort of Tom Yum soup - the ultimate cold cure

My family and I have become the victims of the cold-that-won't-quit.  It just keeps on going, and going ... and going.  I'm on day eight and it's not showing any signs of leaving, so I figured it was time to bring out the big guns.  I first discovered this miracle cure a few years ago:  I had the most terrible cold in the middle of winter and was offered some freelance work, which I obviously accepted - no sane freelancer turns down work in the name of ill health.  

So I dragged myself in, equipped with some unappetizing left over pizza for lunch (because that's what every bad cold needs - more dairy).  My colleagues were ordering Thai food for lunch, which I refused:  "no no, I'm fine, I have some cold, stodgy, cheesy pizza" … yum.  Well despite my protestations they ordered me this soup anyway.  I've never been so grateful for a bowl of soup.  The effect was miraculous, I felt instantly better.

Now, I know most people claim chicken noodle soup is the way to go when you're sick, which is fine, but personally I find it too bland and stodgy.   But truthfully, there are lots of soups that are great for when you're feeling under the weather.  You can read about soups and their benefits here (note the bit about Tom Yum's additional anti-cancer benefits too - go Tom Yum!)

This particular soup is my favorite because it's light, spicy, fresh and sour.  There's nothing heavy, just fresh veggies, light zesty flavor from lime and lemongrass and lots of spicy kick from chillies, garlic and ginger.   It also has the added benefit of being ready in 15 minutes, so no waiting around.

By the way, you'll notice the wishy washy title: 'sort of Tom Yum'.  Well, the ingredients of authentic Tom Yum soup are quite specific, and can be hard to come by:  I searched my little Polish corner of North Brooklyn and could not find kaffir limes leaves anywhere (yes, I could have got on a train to speciality asian store, but the cold-that-won't-quit stopped me).  It got me thinking that if you can't get them in cosmopolitan Brooklyn, you definitely won't in say, Eastbourne or Michigan (hello family!).  So here's my inauthentic,  cheats version, with ingredients that shouldn't be too hard to find ….

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

32 fl oz / 1qt container of good vegetable broth

1 stick of lemongrass, sliced

1 piece of lime peel (and juice of the lime)

1 inch piece of ginger, sliced

1 bay leaf

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon of dried crushed chili or 1 or 2 fresh red chillies finely chopped

1/2 an onion, finely sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 carrot, finely chopped

4 or 5 mushrooms, sliced

handful of diced firm tofu

dash of soy sauce

Optional toppings:  chopped cilantro (coriander), chopped scallions (spring onions), fish sauce, chili sauce

Method:

Put the broth, lemongrass, ginger, bay leaf and lime peel in a saucepan over a medium-high heat.  Bring to the boil then let simmer for about 5 minutes.  

Remove the stalkier bits of lemongrass, larger ginger pieces, lime peel and bay leaf and add all the other ingredients.  

Allow to simmer for 6 - 10 minutes until the vegetables are just cooked.  Check the flavor and adjust to your liking (adding more chili, lime juice or soy depending on your taste for heat, salt or zest).  Add any or all of the toppings plus the lime juice and enjoy the head clearing benefits.

Easy Peasy Mini Mince Pies

Last weekend was Stir up Sunday:  The traditional day you make up your Christmas cake / pudding / mincemeat (any or all of the above).  Supposedly all  family members give the mixture a 'lucky stir' and make a wish while doing so.

So last Sunday I decided I'd make my first ever Christmas cake from this recipe on the Guardian's word of mouth blog.

left over from all the fruit cake fun was loads of dried fruit, and that's where the mince pies come in.  I've always been put off making my own mincemeat - all that faffing about with jar sterilizing, not to mention the sinister sounding beef suet.  

But then I found this super easy recipe.  It promised you can just keep the mixture in the fridge for the few weeks before you're going to use it, just keep adding a few glugs of whisky or brandy every week as the flavors develop and mature.  This made a ton of mincemeat - there's going to be a mincepie-a-thon round here!

As I'm going to be making lots I'm grateful I found this fabulous easy pie recipe from BBC Good Food.  I'll admit,  I was so skeptical about this recipe I halved the amount when I first tried it - I was certain it was too good to be true and didn't want to waste good mincemeat on a jam tart-esque failure.

Well, it turns out it really is unbelievably easy:  You make the shortbread dough (dough is a misleading word - mine never reassembled it, more of a crumbly, breadcrumby mixture).  Then you take clumps and, for want of a better word, smoosh it in the tart pans before adding the filling.  No rolling or cutting out pastry pieces:  just smooshing.

I used a mini muffin pans, which made 24 - some with lids some without.  After reading some of the comments about them being hard to remove I made sure to grease the pans liberally with butter, I found them came out pretty easily with the help of a spoon.

Lastly, I added my own little embellishment:  orange zest to the dough.  It's a subtle addition but a nice one which compliments the citrus in the mincemeat.
The result is a wonderfully old school mini pie - kind of like the crumbly sweet ones you get the shops in England, except better ... of course.

Here's the recipe converted with American measurements:

Ingredients:

2 sticks of cold unsalted butter, diced

12 oz or 3 cups of all purpose plain flour

3.5oz or 1/2 cup fine golden sugar

10oz or 1 & 1/3 cups of mincemeat (either from a jar or from the recipe I linked to above)

zest of 1 small orange

1 small egg, beaten

icing / confectioners sugar for dusting

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 360 F

To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, then mix in the sugar, a pinch of salt and the orange zest. Combine the pastry into a ball - don't add liquid - and knead it briefly (mine never actually formed in to a ball - it was too crumbly - don't worry, it'll still work!). You can use the dough immediately, or chill for later.

Grease the holes of two 12-hole mini muffin pans.   Press small walnut-sized balls of pastry into each hole. Spoon the mincemeat into the pies.

You can leave them as the are, as open tarts, or make lids for them:  Take slightly smaller balls of pastry than before and pat them out between your hands to make round lids, big enough to cover the pies. Top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal - you don't need to seal them with milk or egg as they will stick on their own. (The pies may now be frozen for up to 1 month).

Brush the tops of the pies with the beaten egg. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. To serve, lightly dust with icing sugar. They will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.

Day of the Dead Peppermint Creams

Having a kid makes Halloween so much more fun.  We already have three different costume options for the baby and multiple parties and events to take him to, so I wanted something suitably creepy to bring along.  I intended to make peppermint creams last Christmas (in a non skull shape obviously), but I was pregnant and all the recipes I found were made with raw egg whites (major preggo no no!).  

Then recently I was watching Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy on the BBC and she made these old school classics - I remember making these when I was little with my sister Trish.  They're the perfect thing for kids to make as they're so easy and no cooking is involved (except for melting the chocolate in the microwave).

If you're really crafty and have a steady hand (clearly I do not, hence some seriously wonky eyes and mouths here) you could try to recreate the amazing and beautiful Mexican sugar skulls.

Lots of recipes for peppermint patties and peppermint creams (same thing as far as I can tell?  correct me if I'm wrong) call for peppermint extract, not oil.  Well I like my mint flavor strong - I'm talking Altoid strong here.   For that, you need the peppermint oil.  It's hard to find but worth it.  Also, it's very potent, a little goes a long way:  I used 10 drops here which resulted in a reasonably strong minty flavor (I could have gone stronger, but not everyone shares my mint addiction, so I kept it tame)

I've covered these in dark chocolate, white chocolate and some I've left plain except for the eye, nose and mouth decoration.  Personally, I think the dark chocolate ones are the best - the bitterness is a nice counterpoint to the very sweet interior (it's pure sugar remember!).

Ingredients:

10oz / 2.5 cups icing / confectioners sugar 

4 oz / 4 tablespoons evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon or 8 - 10 drops of peppermint oil

2oz good quality dark chocolate broken in to small squares (I used Green and Blacks 70% cocoa)

2oz good quality white chocolate broken in to small squares  (again, I used Green and Blacks)

Method:

Mix the sugar, milk and peppermint oil in a bowl until you have a firm-ish dough (you may need to sprinkle a little extra sugar on to make it dry enough to handle).

Pull off little bits of dough and roll in your hands to make little balls, flatten out a bit and shape in to skulls.

Place the skulls on to some grease proof paper on a tray and refrigerate for an hour or so.

Place the white and and dark chocolate in to two small separate bowls, place each one in the microwave for bursts of 30 seconds, stirring between each burst to help it melt.  Remove it before it's totally melted to avoid overheating and getting it too grainy, it should only take about a minute and a half or less.

Using two forks dip the skulls in the chocolate and put back on the greaseproof paper, let the chocolate set a bit before doing the eyes, nose and mouth (you can use any small pointed implement to do this, I used the end of a whisk attachment to do mine!).

Place back in the fridge to let them set completely.  I store mine permanently in the fridge as I think they taste better that way.

Cheese and Marmite Straws

I have never raised the controversial topic of Marmite on this blog (if you don't know what that is, read about it here).  

I'll start by saying; I'm a lover, not a hater.  If you're from Britain, you're usually one or the other, there's no middle ground to be had on this salty condiment.

Condiment is the key word here, and it's the place where I think lots of people go wrong when first trying Marmite.  It's flavor is strong and fairly sour and has to be used very sparingly - I wouldn't dream of having it on toast without some butter to temper the tangy flavor.

Also, Marmite is very good for you, particularly if you're vegetarian:  it's got lots of B vitamins that are hard to find elsewhere

Ok, enough of the hard sell.  I have a feeling, if you don't like Marmite you probably stopped reading some time ago.  But to appease the Marmite haters (of whom my husband is one) I made some plain with just cheese. You could also add any number of herbs, spices or flavors (paprika, sage, onion, mustard to name a few).  But seriously, just try the Marmite … you never know, you might like it.

Note: I've listed the Marmite amount as 1 teaspoon but that's an estimate, I use the squeezy bottle and just drizzled a little on and used a knife to spread it.  Just remember, use is sparingly!

Makes 8 - 10 straws

Ingredients:

2/3 cup plain flour

1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar

4 tablespoons butter

1 egg, beaten

teaspoon marmite

Method:

Preheat the Oven 375 F (180 C).

Sieve the flour in to a bowl.  Cut the butter in to small cubes and add to the flour, rub it in until it has a breadcrumb consistency.  Mix in the grated cheese. (if using spices, herbs or other flavors, add now).

Add the beaten egg and mix together to form a dough (you may need to add a little extra flour or water here depending on the size of your egg).

Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut in to long thin strips and top each strip with a little Marmite.  Gently twist the strips in to twirls and transfer to a baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for around 20 mins or until golden.

Apple crumble and custard slices

I am a sucker for all things autumn. The weather is finally behaving itself and we have been taking part in many cheesy fall activities: Harvest festivals,  leaf peeping, hay rides and, best of all apple picking!

So many apples; more than I know what to do with.  On autopilot, I ended up making tons and tons of applesauce, hoping I'd do something useful with it, and in this case I did.

And this is where it strays in to semi-homemade territory - not something I plan to make a habit of, but this time it was a jolly good idea.  I'm a firm believer that apple crumble should be served with custard (vanilla ice-cream is an acceptable second choice).  So when we got back from apple picking we had an awesome apple and blackberry crumble (recipe from Peyton and Byrne British Baking book) which I did not photograph - I was too busy eating it.

As the mother to a small infant, however, something had to give; the homemade pie AND the homemade custard were not going to happen at the same time.  So custard came from a tin.

So, I was left with custard and a huge amount of applesauce, (and had some ready made pastry handy). That's where this fairly lazy recipe came in.  I adapted it (just adding some oats) from Cookies, Biscuits, Bars and Brownies by Catherine Atkinson; a lovely, unassuming little book, which has loads of traditional British biscuit recipes.

Makes 16 slices

Ingredients:

14 oz ready made pastry / pie crust (not puff pastry)

5 tbsp applesauce

4 tbsp ready made custard

For the crumble topping:

2oz/ 1/2cup plain unbleached flour

2oz / 1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 tbsp brown sugar

3 and 1/2 oz / 7 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375f.  Roll out the pastry and use to line the base of a shallow cookie sheet / pan (or two if your pastry is split in to two sheets).  Prick the pastry with a fork, line with baking parchment and baking beans and bake for about 10-15 mins.  Remove the parchment and beans and return to the oven for another 5 mins until golden brown.

Meanwhile, make the crumble topping:  Put the flour, oats, cinnamon and sugar in to a bowl and pour over the melted butter.  Stir thoroughly until the mixture forms small clumps.

Mix the custard and applesauce together and spread over the pastry, sprinkle over the crumble topping on top.

Return to the oven and bake for about 10-15 mins until the crumble topping is golden.  Leave to cool and slice in to bars and serve.

Alternative Egg Salad

I'm told by my husband that I eat tacos and pizza in a very un-American way - with a knife and fork.  There are certain foods, supposedly 'fast', supposedly easy to eat with your hands, that you really don't want to observe being eaten.  

The 'shoveling' that's required by the taco and the revolting, and distinctly New Yorky, 'fold and devour' pizza technique are not pretty things to witness.  

This sandwich recipe is inspired by an equally messy but wonderful invention, the Scuttlebutt from Saltie restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  Their version is a really flavorful mix fillings including of seasonal vegetables (that change with the season), eggs and pickles.  It's served on their awesome, house-made focaccia bread.  Like I said, it's  a wonderful meal, but not a tidy one.  My version is made a bit neater and easier to eat by being packed in a pitta pocket and the filling ingredients paired down a bit (including the exclusion of mayo - which I have an aversion to).

Feel free to enjoy it with a knife and fork, I totally understand.  here it is:

Serves 2:

Ingredients:

2 wholewheat pitta pockets, toasted

3 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon of capers

1 or 2 cooked beets, sliced

2 scallions (spring onions), chopped

Handful of arugula (rocket), chopped,

2 teaspoons of chopped fresh cilantro

splash and lemon juice and olive oil and black pepper to taste

Method,

Put all your filling ingredients, excluding the beets, in to a bowl and combine.

Cut the pitta pockets in half and fill with the egg mixture, top with the sliced beets and serve.

Eggplant Fritters with Honey

Like many British families in the late 80's, we used to take summer holidays in the Costa Del Sol in Spain.  The stereotypical British tourist was very well catered for, tons of pubs offered full English breakfasts for people who wanted foreign sunshine but not foreign food.  I haven't been back in years, but apparently, not much has changed.

Not that we were any better. My main food memories of these holidays include chips, ice-cream and Fanta Limon.

But, I DO remember eating these; we seemed to get them at every restaurant we went to.  And when we got home my parents tried to re-create them but there was always something missing, so this is for them.  Mum and Dad, I think the missing ingredient was honey.  The traditional addition of sweet honey (or molasses) plays off the salty fried coating of the eggplant and is so delicious.

Makes about 7-9 fritters, depending on the size of your eggplants

Ingredients:

2 eggplants

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup plain flour

4 tablespoons of olive oil

honey for drizzling (about 2 tablespoons)

Method:

Slice the eggplant in to 1/2 inch slices, place on a sheet and sprinkle each piece with a little salt on both sides.  Leave it to sit for about an hour to draw the moisture out.

Rinse the salt from the eggplant slices and pat dry.

Season the plain flour with a little salt and pepper and put it on a large plate, next to the frying pan.

Heat the olive oil in the frying pan. Dip your first three eggplant slices in the flour, making sure there's plenty on both sides.  Fry in the oil for about 4-5 mins on each side, or until golden brown.

Repeat with the rest of the slices and place on a plate, drizzle generously with the honey and serve while still hot.

Summer Bubble & Squeak

I associate this dish most strongly with Boxing day (what we in Britain call the day after Christmas).  It's basically what you do with all your left over veggies from Christmas dinner, usually a mix of roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts and other root veggies.  You mash them all up, fry them in a pan and top it with a fried egg.  The name, by the way, is supposed to describe the sound it makes in the pan while it's cooking, although mine has never bubbled exactly, and will only 'squeak' if cabbage is added to the mix.

So with all the winter associations it has for me, it seemed a bit odd to be making it in the summer time.  But again this week (like last) I found myself with more veggies than I knew what to do with.  I had cooked up too many potatoes for salad, and had left over steamed carrots, zucchini and corn, and Bubble and Squeak suddenly seemed like a good plan.

Some people like to make theirs in to neat little patties.  I don't ever remember our boxing day lunch being that neat, and with this particular selection of vegetables it'd never work; they're too wet and don't stick together.  

As a side note, I should mention the farm we got all these wonderful vegetables:  Holton Farms in Vermont, our CSA farm-share.  Sadly it looks like hurricane Irene hit them badly.  They were already struggling as a new business, and the weather these past two summers (drought last year, hurricane this year) has not been good to them.  Hopefully they'll be able to pull through it …

Note:

The amounts here can be pretty approximate, as long as the potatoes are the main ingredient, you can be creative with the amounts and varieties of other ingredients

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 tbls extra virgin olive oil

5 cups of cooked potatoes (I used a mix of white and red with skins on)

1 bunch of cooked carrots

2 cobs of cooked corn (cut from the cob)

1 chopped and cooked zuchhini

1 clove garlic, chopped

salt and pepper

4 eggs

Method:

Take all the vegetables in a large bowl and roughly mash together with a potato masher. season with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, add the chopped garlic and heat for about 30 seconds.

Add the vegetables to the pan and mix up with the garlic, press the mixture down in the pan and allow to cook over a medium heat for about 5 - 7 mins.

Gently turn over sections of the mixture so the other side can get browned (about another 5-7 mins).   It will fall apart a bit, some sections will retain their shape, it doesn't matter, just try and make sure most of it get some cooked crispiness.

Transfer the veggies to plates, and add the last of the oil to the pan and fry the eggs - should only take a minute or two depending on how well done you like them.  Top each plate with an egg.

Late Summer Glut

This is my favorite time of year for food - isn't it for everyone?  So many gorgeous fruits and veggies are at their best right now; I feel an obligation to cook and eat them all while they're in season.  We got a massive haul from our CSA, Holton Farms, so rather than one recipe this week, here's a selection of what we've been eating this week:

Pan Con Tomate:  Writing it in Spanish doesn't change the fact that it's squished tomato on toast.  And damn good it is too.  This is only worth doing when tomatoes are at their ripest and best:

Toast some good crusty bread, rub a cut garlic clove on it, take a cut tomato and kind of squish / rub it on to the bread, generously add a bit of salt, pepper and olive oil.  Yum!

Pickles!  We got a huge amount of pickling cucumbers so I religiously followed this recipe for bread and butter pickles in Bon Appetit magazine.  I've never pickled anything before in my life and I'm still terrified we might die from botulism poisoning.  Despite that, they're very good.

Black bean and corn tacos.  Again, we got an enormous amount of corn.  More than I can think what to do with.  Much of it we steamed, cut off the cob and froze.  With some of it, we did this:

Saute some corn and some cooked black beans in a pan with garlic, cilantro and lime juice.  Serve in corn tortillas with salsa and cheese.  

Homemade Mini Milks aka Frozen Custard Lollies (popsicles)

If I still lived in the UK I probably wouldn't have random cravings for things like mini milks, and I certainly wouldn't go to the bother of trying to make my own at home.  But then, that's the thing with being a foreigner, you miss home, and the little things that make it home, particularly the things that made it home when you were a child.  Like milky ice lollies.    They're a retro-nostalgia snack.

The thing that actually got me thinking of these was custard.  I wanted to make some, but August seemed like a ludicrous month to be making something so warm and comforting.  Custard belongs to January.  Still, custard is what I  wanted, so I started thinking about freezing it, and then freezing it in to ice lollies  …. and I arrived at these.

Mini milks come in three flavors: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.  You'll notice the strawberry is missing here.  The strawberry flavor mini milks are my least favorite.  They have the kind of strawberry flavor you can't create at home, the kind that I'm sure has little to do with an actual strawberry and a lot to do with a science lab.

So vanilla and chocolate it was.  Made from a simple vanilla custard base and then some added hot chocolate powder.  Delish.

Recipe notes:  I only have six lolly molds and this made too much for them.  I reckon you could probably get about 10 lollies out of this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups of whole milk

2 tbs sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1tsp vanilla extract (or one vanilla pod)

3 tsp hot chocolate powder

Method:

Put the milk in a saucepan, add the vanilla and bring to a simmer over a low heat.

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a bowl until mixed well.

Pour a little of the hot milk in to the egg mixture and whisk.  Continue adding the milk, whisking all the time.

Next, return the the saucepan and, over a low heat, stir constantly until it's thickened.  Take off the heat and pour out half the custard in to another bowl.  Stir in the hot chocolate powder.  Allow both mixtures to cool a bit (a skin will form on the top - you can just skim it off).

When cool enough, pour in to the ice lolly molds and freeze for at least 6 hours.

Enjoy eating while watching Button Moon, Bagpuss or the Flumps.

Chilled zucchini soup

My son has recently started eating solid foods (well ok, pureed solid foods).  It's been a very exciting, if messy, development for both of us: watching him discover the world of food has been fascinating 

Today I made a new discovery when I cooked up more pureed zucchini (Courgette if you're British!) than my freezer tray had room for - much to my surprise, pureed zucchini rocks!  I didn't have high hopes; quite frankly, bland, steamed zucchini mushed up didn't sound particularly enticing.  But I was really surprised how flavorful this baby puree was, and given my summer obsession with chilled soups I knew exactly what to do with it … hope the baby loves it as much as I do …

Ingredients:

Serves 4

3 large zucchini or yellow summer squash

Juice of 2 lemons

1/4 cup of reserved steaming water

2 tbls chopped fresh cilantro

salt & pepper

For topping:

choose any of all of the following:

diced fresh bell pepper, diced tomato, sliced avocado, grilled sweetcorn, chopped cucumber

Method:

Slice the zucchini up and place in a steamer.  Cook in the steamer for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the zucchini is tender.  Allow them to cool (keep some of the steaming water to thin out the soup).

Place the zucchini in a blender or food processor and puree, adding a little of the water as you go so you have a soupy consistency.

Add the lemon juice, cilantro, salt and pepper to taste (I felt it needed quite a lot of both) and chill in the fridge.

Serve topped with any of the topping ingredients you fancy.

veggie ricotta frittata

My new son Evan very obligingly took a 30 min nap that allowed me just enough time to make this (then quickly scarf it down as he threatened to start waking up - oh well).  This recipe fits the bill for my new life with a baby:  quick to cook with minimal washing up and plenty of left overs for later.  It's also extremely delicious, you could really use any combo of vegetables you fancy, but this combination of leeks, mushrooms and squash go perfectly with the creamy, melty dollops of ricotta.  Perfect hot but also awesome chilled for a picnic.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 leek, washed and sliced

2 handfuls of mushrooms, sliced

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled and chopped

5 medium eggs

3 tablespoons of ricotta cheese

1 slice of Emmental or other swiss cheese, chopped

pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

preheat the grill/broiler.

place a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the olive oil, then the leek, mushrooms and garlic.  Saute for about 5 mins until the vegetables begin to color.

Add the butternut squash, salt and pepper and stir to mix.  Cover with a lid and cook gently until the squash is tender (about 15 mins).

meanwhile whisk the eggs and 2 tablespoons of the ricotta together in a bowl.

Add the egg mixture to the pan of vegetables and add little dollops of the remaining ricotta.  Allow to cook over a low heat for about 6 - 7 mins until the eggs are almost set.  Scatter the chopped swiss cheese on top and transfer the pan to the grill/broiler for about 3-4 mins until fully cooked and the cheese is melted.

Lentil Shepherds pie with Colcannon topping

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I'm 37 weeks pregnant, and I'm spending these final weeks cooking meals that freeze well so we've got plenty of quick easy food on hand to survive those first crazy weeks after the baby arrives.  I doubled the lentil filling for this pie and froze half of it - it'll work great as another pie filling, or just reheated and served with rice.

Before I became a vegetarian I actually hated the traditional shepherds pie made with minced lamb (I remember staring at the school dinner version, getting cold and congealed on my plate as the dinner ladies encouraged me to try 'just one more bite' - my 6 year old self was not impressed - trust school dinners to turn you off a dish for life).

But then I became vegetarian, and this lentil version became a bit of a winter staple dish in our house.  It does use loads of pans, so be prepared for lots of dish washing,  but if you double up the recipe, you'll have another meal for another day, so it's worth it.

I've used Marmite as a flavoring - it's British and a bit of an acquired taste - I've yet to meet a non British person who actually likes it on toast with butter (which is how most people eat it).  But even if you're not a fan of it on toast, it really does work as a flavoring in a dish like this - it gives a salty, meatiness that the filling needs (not to mention lots of great B vitamins, which veggie food is often lacking in).

The mashed potato topping became colcannon just by adding some sautéed cabbage - I like to make the topping more interesting and along with leaving the potatoes un-peeled, the cabbage works really well.

Ingredients:

for the lentil filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 sticks of celery, finely chopped

3 carrots finely chopped

1 cup dry lentils (I used green, but brown or Puy would also work)

3 cups water

3 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger

1/2 cup red wine

teaspoon of marmite

dash of worcesteshire sauce

pinch of paprika

1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary

1 cup of vegetable stock

dash of salt and pepper

for the colcannon topping:

4 potatoes, un-peeled and chopped

half a small savoy cabbage, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of butter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

dash of milk or vegetable stock

salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

Start by preheating the oven to 400F.  

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil for the potatoes.

In another pan bring the 3 cups of water to a boil, adding the 3 bay leaves and one garlic clove (smashed slightly to get the full flavor out of it).  

Meanwhile, rinse the lentils.  Add them to the pan of water and bring down to a simmer; partially covered for about 25 - 30 mins, until they're tender but not falling apart.

Add the potatoes to their water and simmer until tender (about 20 mins).

While the lentils and potatoes are cooking, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and celery and cook gently for 5 minutes.  Next, add the carrots and cook for another 5 mins.  Add a clove of garlic (chopped or minced),  minced ginger, paprika, rosemary, Marmite and worcesteshire sauce and cook for 2 - 3 mins.

Next, add the red wine and turn up the heat, cook until the wine is absorbed.

Drain the cooked lentils, remove the bay leaves and garlic clove, and add them to the vegetable mixture along with the vegetable stock. Cook over a medium heat until the stock of nearly all absorbed; season with salt and pepper to taste.

While the lentil mixture cooks, drain the potatoes, and in a frying pan melt the butter and and olive oil over a medium heat.  Add the chopped cabbage to the pan and fry gently for about 5 minutes, until the cabbage is soft.  

Next, take off the heat and add the potatoes to the pan, add a dash of milk or vegetable stock, salt and black pepper, plus a little more olive oil.  Mash with a potato masher till it all comes together.

Next add the lentil mixture to an 8 x 8 ovenproof baking dish, and top with the mashed potato, level it out and run a fork over the mash so it crisps up nicely in the oven.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.