Crusted Butternut Squash Wedges

This simple and tasty dish came up (thankfully) when a dear vegetarian friend and follower stayed with us for a couple of nights. It's a simple, flavoursome dish that allows plenty of room for dessert! Ready in less than 30 minutes and best served with a simple salad this dish is better suited to those warmer days, but there's no harm in wishful thinking!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

700g Butternut Squash (leave the skin on)

50g Grana Padano or Parmesan, finely grated

20g dried white breadcrumbs (I used torn stale bread from a farmhouse style loaf)

a large handful of finely chopped parsley

2 1/1 tsp finely chopped thyme

grated zest of 2 lemons

2 garlic cloves crushed

60 ml of olive oil

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC and cut the Squash into 1cm thick slices. Lay them flat on a baking parchment lined baking tray. Start making the crust by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl, then add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Brush the wedges with the oil and sprinkle over the crust mix. pat down slightly and bake in the oven for 20-25 mins, or until the squash is cooked through (just stab it with a sharp knife making sure the thickest slice is soft all the way through) Serve warm with wedges of lemon!

Chocolate Cake with an Apricot Swist

This is a moist, indulgent cake with a light and tangy fruity kick that is bound to leave you wanting another generous slice. It is a little more time-consuming than your basic sandwich cake, but it’s definitely worth it. Nice to share with family and friends. Snuggle up and keep out of the wind and rain. Make a large pot of tea and spoil yourself.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 200g plain flour
• 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 200 ml soya milk
• 100g soya butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. good quality vanilla extract

For the syrup:

• 4 Tbsp. apricot jam
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

For the icing:

• 70g dark chocolate
• 6 Tbsp. soya milk
• 3 Tbsp. soya butter
• 450g icing sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

Baking steps

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and prepare 2 round cake tins



2. Sift together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. As you want the ingredients to be well combined, it is a good idea to sift together several times until you get a nice even, light colour



3. Measure out the soya milk in a jug and mix in the lemon juice. It should curdle nicely. If not, add a little more lemon juice

4. Beat the two eggs together in a cup


5. In another bowl, cream the soy butter and sugar together until light and fluffy



6. Now is the time to put it all together. Think of the butter-sugar mix as your base. Mix well after each addition. First add a little of the egg, then some of the flour mix, then a little of the milk mix. Continue adding each of these in turn until you have one smooth batter.


7. Finally add the vanilla extract and stir well


8. Divide the mixture between the two cake pans
9. Bake for about twenty minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean


10. Leave to cool for five minutes in the cake tins and then turn out onto cooling racks
11. Use your cake tester to prick the cakes all over (in a nice gentle, methodical manner)
12. Leave to cool


Now it’s time to make the syrup



1. Simmer the jam and lemon juice together over a low heat until nicely thickened
2. Whilst still warm pour half over each cake base and spread to cover each surface

And finally: the icing

1. Gently melt the chocolate and soya butter in a steam bath (place a bowl on top of a pan of boiling water)
2. Remove from heat


3. In a bowl carefully mixed together the icing sugar, soya milk, salt and vanilla
4. Now slowly add the chocolate mix to the icing and beat together until nice and smooth


5. Sandwich the layers together with a layer of icing and then spread to the remaining icing to cover the surface of the cake


Eat up!

Stuffed Roasted Tomatoes

One cold autumn afternoon and I was craving something warm, hearty and not too heavy. This immediately caught my eye, the rich tomato flavour, mixed with the herbs and breadcrumbs made the perfect dish and definitely hit the spot!

So simple to do, but so tasty these little treats will work wonders for a starter if you are cooking for friends as they take 30 minutes in the oven so you can literally pop them in as your guests arrive.


Ingredients:

Large round tomatoes (2 per person - I made six)
12 Semi-dried black olives (the wrinkly kind)
2 Anchovy filets (preferably in olive oil)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion finely chopped
a small handful of parsley, basil and mint
Olive oil
Fresh breadcrumbs made by tearing a large chunk of crusty bread into shreds (you could use packet ones but its better to keep the rough texture)
a small handful of parsley, basil and mint (roughly chopped)

Method:

Pre heat oven to 160ºC. Start by chopping the tops off the tomatoes about 1cm down, then using a spoon scoop the inner flesh and seeds out, leaving a nice shell to stuff. Sprinkle in a little salt and then place tomatoes upside down in a colander to drain any excess water. Next (de-stone) and chop up the olives into small chunks and cut the anchovies (or use capers if you want a veggie/vegan version) and mix this along with the garlic, onion, herbs and breadcrumbs. Next using about 1tbsp of the breadcrumb mix stuff each of the tomatoes leaving a nice dome of crumbs. Then place on a greased or lined baking sheet, drizzle with the oil and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with a little rocket salad (I added a little goats cheese and balsamic) and enjoy!

Celeriac and Pear Soup

Whip up this warming, fragrant soup in next to no time. After my adventures with stuffed squash I thought I would try out another new vegetable. Celeriac. Looks like a turnip, tastes quite a lot like celery but more subtle and definitely more versatile: boil, mash, bake, fry or turn into a tasty, healthy soup. Pear is a surprisingly delicious fruity accompaniment. This is a slightly modified BBC food recipe, and is suitable for most allergy –afflicted peeps to eat.

Ingredients

• A little oil
• 1 celeriac
• 4 medium pear
• I large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3cm piece of ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1litre vegetable stock
• A few fresh chives

A few little cooking steps




1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan, chop the onion, garlic and ginger and lightly sauté

2) Peel and chop the celeriac and add to the pan and fry briefly












3) Peel and chop the pears ...
















...and add to the pan with the stock and simmer until the celeriac is nice and soft (around 15-20 minutes, depending on how shall you chop the pieces in the first place)










4) Leave to cool for a few minutes then liquidise the soup in a blender
















5) Return briefly to pan, heating gently through










6) Serve garnished with the chopped chives

Mini Scones with Cherry Compote

After a Saturday walking around in the "vague countryside" (the kind that borders a large city so promptly includes a stop at a 5 star hotel for a quick drink) I was feeling virtuous so decided to whip up something sweet but not too sickly. I remembered making scones with my grandmother and figured what better way to feel nostalgic and truly indulgent after a long day's walking!

To balance out the savoury side to the scones I decided to add a sugary-sweet cherry compote. That way you can add as much or as little sweetness as desired.

Ingredients:

225g self-raising flour
40g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
75g butter (at room temperature)
30g dried sultanas
30g dried cranberries
1 egg, beaten
3-4 tbsp milk (+ a few drops of lemon juice)

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC and lightly grease or line a baking tray. Start by sieving the flour and salt into a large bowl, then sprinkle in the sugar. Next add the butter and mix to a crumb using your hands. At this point you will be left with a mix of fine crumbs and a floury mix, i.e not all the flour will crumb with the butter. Next add the dried fruit, beaten egg and 3tbsp of milk, mix with a knife until it starts to come together in big lumps and then get your hands in and mix into a dough. Be careful not to overmix it as it will become sticky, but if you find the mix is still too dry add a little more of the milk. Roll the dough into a ball.

Lightly flour a work surface and place the ball of dough in the centre, using a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1 inch thick. Now take the smallest cutter you have and cut circles from the dough, being careful not to twist the cutter as you cut the dough (mine yielded about 25 circles). Next place the circles on the baking sheet and dust with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and ground mixed spice. Bake in the oven for around 8-12 mins (depending on the size of your scones, mine took about 10 minutes).


Serve warm with plenty of butter and a drizzle of cherry compote!

To make the compote you just need some tinned or jarred cherries and sugar. Mix equal parts of cherry juice and caster sugar (I used 1 cup of each) and place in a heavy bottomed pan and place over a medium high heat. Next chop a few spoonfuls of cherries and add to the simmering liquid, keep over a high heat until reduced by half and then remove from the heat, sieve in 1 tbsp icing sugar and whisk until disolved, let cool slightly and serve warm, or cool completely and store in the fridge until needed.