Happy Halloween

Spiced Pumpkin & Apple Soup

It’s that time of year again. With things being so very different this year, treat yourselves to some homemade healthy soup.

As well as providing you with some of your seven a day it is also very economical to make, using the flesh from all that pumpkin carving and windfall apples.

For the adults I highly recommend using cider to make this soup, however, for the children vegetable stock is a better option.

To finish the soup, toast some bread, using a cookie cutter, stamp out to ghostly shapes, Sprinkle with grated cheese or a vegan alternative, float on tp of individual bowls of soup.

Dairy free, gluten free, Vegetarian, vegan. Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1kg Pumpkin flesh
• 1 Large Potato, peeled & diced
• 2 Large Bramley Apple., peeled & chopped
• 1 large onion, peeled & diced
• 1 Large Carrot. Chopped
• 2 Sticks Celery. Chopped
• 2 Sage leaves
• 1 Tbspn Smoked Paprika
• 1 Tbspn Curry powder
• 1/2 tspn grated nutmeg.
• 1.5 Ltrs Vegetable Stock or for the adults. 1/2 veg stock & 1/2 Cider.
• 3tbspns Rapeseed Oil.
• Seasoning

METHOD.

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan, over a medium heat.
• Add the vegetables & fruit. Fry for 5mins.
• Sprinkle in the spices & fry for a further 3mins, stirring regularly.
• Add the liquid(s). Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, simmer for 45mins.
• Remove from heat, blend in a liquidiser or with a stick until smooth.
• Season to taste and serve.

Should the soup be to thick for your liking, thin down with extra veg stock.

Enjoy

Happy Halloween

Merry Christmas

Christmas Countdown 22 Recipes for a Merry Christmas

If you have been. Thank you for reading. This concludes the 22 recipe Christmas Countdown. All thats left for me to say is “I hope you have found these recipes useful & you have enjoyed, reading these blogs.

Click the photos below to take you to the individual recipes. OR the blue link below will take you to all the recipes, mentioned below in the drop down menu of Christmas Countdown.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HEALTHY & HAPPY NEW YEAR

• 

  Lemon Mincemeat

• 

  Perfect Pastry

• 

  Late cake recipe

• 

  Chocolate & Coconut Vegan Truffles

• 

  Mascapone Pastry

• 

  Marzipan or Sugar Pan

• 

  Top those pies with Veg

• 

  The Christmas Starter

• 

  Do real men eat Quiche?

• 

  The icing on the cake

• 

  About Christmas Countdown

• 

  A Cooks Life

• 

  Chocolate Please

• 

  Vegetables & leftovers

• 

  A change from Sage & onion

• 

  Veggies, look away now

• 

  Roasted Mediterranean Veg

• 

  A little knowledge

• 

  Christmas Stollen Pudding

• 

  Easy Turkey thigh bake

• 

  The Social

Christmas Get Aheads

Time saving Christmas Tips.

Christmas Countdown. The big day is nearly here. Could you be interested in any time saving tips, on the run up to that festive feast. No. Of course not, you are not worried, or panicked, no doubt you are sitting down, with your feet up watching your favourite Christmas movie. Or, maybe you are tearing your hair out, bitting those finger nails & wondering how you are going to cope? Have a read, you might find something to assist you.

Lots of things can be prepared, ahead of the big day, saving you time & allowing you to demonstrate just how good a hostess you are:

1. Laying the festive table, the day before is alway a good idea. Delegate the task to someone else and check that all is in order, with nothing forgotten. Make sure you have enough glasses for all those festive drinks. Don’t stress if they are mis-matched. No one will notice, as long as they have a drink.
2. Peel the spuds & par boil them. place in a bowl, & toss in whichever hot oil you are using, on the day.
3. If you are serving mash, invest in a potato ricer. No only can you have your own, cheap, cauliflower, brocolli or carrot rice. It saves time trying to mash those lumps out. Start a new trend, to impress your guests. Place the rice potato in a serving dish, & hand butter or oil seperately. (will satisfy all dietry requirements!)

• 

  Mash me

• 

  Waiting for the butter

• 

  Riced potatoes

1. Of course, if you have chosen a cold starter, this can be prepared the day before. Was salad veg ready & wrap in kitchen towels & store in the fridge.
2. Slice carrots & celery sticks into chunky strips. Plave in a casserole or roasting tin. Sprinle with chopped parsley & pop in the oven to cook. Drain, reserving the stock for the gravy. & serve. (Any root veg can be cooked in the same way)
3. Make your gravy the day before, thicker than usual. when the Turkey is cooked pour some of the juices from the roasting tin, into the made gravy to add more flavour & thin it down. If lumpy, pass it through a sieve.
4. If you need a quick extra pud. Keep a shop bought pastry case to hand. Spread mincemeat over the base & arrange apple slices on top. Grate over some marzipan & bake. Sprinkle with icing sugar & serve.

Hope you find some of this useful. Just remember, delegation is the key. This is after all, just another roast dinner. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Above all. ENJOY. It is your Christmas too.

Vegetarians Look away

Recipe Sweet Potato & Pork

Christmas Countdown. We all need a quick warming meal, in the run up to Christmas. this recipe for Sweet Potato & Pork fits the bill. All you need is a roasting tin, some veg and your pork, which has been placed in a quick, cheats marinade for a few hours. Throw it all in the oven & forget about it, while you wrap those presents. In 45mins to 1hr, depending on the thickness of your meat, you have a delicious, one pot pork dish ready for the family. If you want to add another veg, serve on some lightly steamed, kale or Cornish spring greens. Yum.

Veggies Look away NOW

Spicy Pork & Sweet Potato Bake.  

Serves 4. Equipment: Large Roasting Tin. Oven temp 200c 400F Gas 6. G/F D/F

For the cheats Marinade:

4 Tbspns Sweet Chilli Chutney.

2 Tbspns Runny Honey

2 Tbspns Light Soy Sauce

5 cm Fresh Ginger, grated.

2. Cloves garlic Crushed

2 Tbspns Red Wine Vinegar

Mix all the above ingredients together in a bowl, spread over the meat, turning occassionally.

1 kg Belly Pork Slices, or 4 Pork Chops.

4 Sweet Potatoes, Quartered, unpeeled.

2 Large red onions, peeled & quartered.

1/2 kg Carrots, cut into large chunks.

• 

  Veggie Base

• 

  Chilli Marinade

• 

  Marinade in the mixing

METHOD:

Place the chunky veg, in a single layer, in a large roasting tin.

Place in a preheated oven & cook for 45mins -1hr, depending on the thickness of the meat.

(If you do not like your meat as crispy as in the photo, move the tray down a shelf, 15mins before the end of the cooking time.

Serve with freshly steamed veg.

If you have any particular recipe requirements or questions, please leave a comment below & I will answer tomorrow.

Until then. Have a great evening.

Turkey thigh bake

Turkey Thigh Recipe

Day 15 of Christmas Countdown. Its that time of year, when everyone is talking Turkey, but do you want to be eating it for days?  As well as being an ecconomical dish to serve, at this time of year, you can also make variations, by changing the vegetables & spices. Turkey thighs can be bought quite cheaply at this time of the year, from you local butcher http://W J Beaven Quality Butchers    Your butcher will be selling the turkey breasts to local resaurants & will then bone & roll the thighs for sale in his shop. These are a far better buy £2.99 per kilo, (last week) than if you buy the Turkey drumsticks which you see in the large Supermakets, they are roughly the same price per kilo, but you are paying for a large amount of bone & gristle. If  you are a family of 2 or 3 this Christmas & don’t want to be eating Turkey until New Years Eve this could also be an cheap & time saving solution.

Of course, you don’t have to use a turkey thigh for this recipe, just as you can change the veg & spices, you can also use chicken thighs. But. You do have to adjust the cooking times *See note in recipe below.

• 

  Roasted Medditerranean Veg

• 

  How do you like your chicken

• 

  Bake me

RECIPE Serves 4. G/F D/F Lowfodmap. Prep time 30mins Cooking Time 1.5 hrs. Oven temp 350f 180c Gas Mk 4

1. Boned & Rolled Turkey thigh joint ( approx 2.5k )
2. 2 Medium Sweet Potatoes, Unpeeled, & scrubbed, chopped into large chunks.
3. 2. Red Onions, Peeled, Quartered & seperated.
4. 4. Medium Carrots,  Unpeeled & scrubbed. Cut into large chunks.
5. 4 Large sticks of celery. Cut into 5cm lengths.
6. 1/2 medium Swede, Peeled & cut into large chunks.
7. 4 Tbspns Cranberry Sauce.
8. 2 Tbspns Rapeseed Oil
9. Fresh Rosemary, Thyme, & Parsley Chopped
10. 2 Tbspns Cider Vinegar.
11. Seasoning.

METHOD

Preheat the oven, to the above temperature.  At the same time place the rapeseed oil in a large roasting tin in the oven. When the oven has reached the right temp. Remove the tray & place the turkey thigh in the oil, turning to coat.

Returm to oven & roast for 1/2hr. Remove the turkey thigh & add all the chopped veg, to the roasting tray. 

Add 2tbspns of Cranberry Sauce & toss with the juices & oil in the pan.

Coat the Turkey thigh with the remaining Cranberry sauce & place on top of the veg, together with the herbs & seasoning. Sprinkle over the Cider vingar. Return to the oven & roast for a futher hour, until the turkey is cooked through. ( Juices run clear when pierced with a knife).

Leave the turkey to rest for 15mins & carve into slices. Place on top of the veg & juices from the tin & serve with a green veg of choice.

Ready to serve.

*If using chicken thighs or breasts, place the poultry on top of the chopped veg & roast for 1hr (until cooked through). There is no need to roast the meat first, this only applies if you are using a larger joint of poultry.

*Use, courgettes, peppers & aubergine chunks & replace the Cranberry Sauce with pesto. Top with Chicken Thighs. Cook & serve with Pasta & grated Parmesan Cheese.

Well, there we have it. I hope I have given you the inspiration to ring the changes & think of your own combinations. There are many to be had. Enjoy.

The Italian touch.