Sunday 21st of April 2013

The weekend has been very half-and-half here.  Yesterday (unlike today, grr!) the weather was glorious and we spent all morning and a large chunk of the afternoon in the garden.  I eschewed the chicken pie that I'd planned to make for lunch and instead served up a huge bowl of chicken salad with bacon, avocado, green beans and new potatoes.  Scattered with tarragon and dressed with my all-purpose honey mustard dressing, it was a hit with everyone present and much lighter eating than pie would have been on a warm day.



Of course, the abandonment of my pie plans did mean that there was a sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry now languishing, without purpose, in the 'fridge.  With leek and potato soup on the cards for lunch today, I decided to knock up some Blue Cheese and Hazelnut Palmiers to go with it

My Latest Leek and Potato Soup

lump of butter

6-8 thin slices of pancetta, chopped

6 thin leeks, halved and sliced

2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1.2 litres chicken stock

2 bay leaves

white pepper

Melt butter in a large pan, fry the pancetta for a few minutes to let the fat begin to run, then turn the prepared leeks in the juices until well coated. Add the potatoes, mixing in well, then pour in the stock, add the bay leaves and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are really soft. Remove the bay leaves and purée. I use my BAMIX with the 'C' blade, but use what you like.  Season with white pepper only (the pancetta is, I feel, quite salty enough).

Now for the accompaniment.  Palmiers are dead easy to make with a ready-rolled sheet of puff pastry and the folding is straightforward.  I've taken loads of pictures to show you what I mean, because I think it would be very difficult to explain clearly with words alone.  I hope you give them a go, you can change the fillings easily to suit yourself, my boys are rather keen on pesto palmiers with extra pine nuts and parmesan.  Just remeber you need something 'spready' and one or two 'scattery' things and you're away...

Blue Cheese & Hazelnut Palmiers

150g Danish Blue cheese, at room temperature

25g unsalted butter, really soft

handful of hazelnuts, two-thirds chopped roughly, one-third finely

Mix the crumbled cheese and the butter together, mashing and stirring to form some semblance of a paste.  Using three-quarters of the cheese mix, dot teaspoons of this across the whole sheet of pastry, spreading it out as best you can , then scatter over the roughly chopped nuts.  Fold the long edges of pastry into the centre.

Now spread the remaining cheese over the uppermost surface and sprinkle with the finely chopped nuts. Fold the entire sheet in half (I use my silicone pastry mat to help), then wrap it up and chill it for at least an hour to firm up.

When it's had a good rest, cut the log, with a very sharp knife, into half-centimetre slices.  Put these, well-spaced and as shown, onto a lined baking sheet (parchment is absolutely fine and dandy if you don't have silicone mats) and bake for 25-30 minutes at 180ºc until golden, crisp and toasty.

Remove the palmiers to a cooling rack as quickly as you can.  

These are good either warm or cold; they are fabulous to go with drinks before dinner and keep for a few days in a tin (or they would, if my lot weren't so flaming greedy..!).  You can also prepare the logs, slice them and freeze the slices to cook from frozen. Just allow a little extra cooking time.

Cath xx

Wednesday 27th of March 2013

Tonight, I tried a recipe from a cookery magazine.  BBC Good Food carried this recipe for Roast Carrot Soup with Pancetta Croutons ages ago and, as is my way, I ripped it out, stashed it in a drawer and promptly forgot all about it.  Until tonight that is, when it was just too cold for anything other than a massive pan of soup. I'd already found a huge bag of carrots lingering in the cupboard; luckily I had some sliced pancetta in the 'fridge and had just baked a loaf of lovely granary bread.  Job done! The recipe is highly recommended by the way...

Cath xx

Saturday 9th of March 2013

Weekends, by my choice, invariably find me in the kitchen.  This morning, after my breakfast of muesli, toast and coffee,  I sorted out the chicken stock which had been cooking overnight in the slow-cooker.  I find this the easiest way to make stock these days; putting the bones in the pot which a halved shallot or two (leaving the skin on to colour the stock a rich brown colour), covering them with water and leaving them to blip on LOW while we sleep.  Then, in the morning, all I need to do is strain the stock into a pan and boil it to reduce to a litre or so.  I usually make chicken stock once a week, and this method allows me to do it even when we are really busy, which is pretty much all the time.  I also took the opportunity to make a bara brith this morning, as I had the oven on anyway, baking bread rolls for lunch.

We usually eat our main meal of the day at lunchtimes on the weekend. Today for lunch we enjoyed a meal of Simple Tomato Soup and a basket of cheese-topped Fast & Furious Rolls , which I topped with some grated parmesan after brushing on the melted butter.  I served it with the remaining Herby Cheese from Thursday's dinner and a bowl of pea shoots.

Then, after I took the children to the village playground to run off some energy in the sunshine, we returned home for a lovely, relaxing afternoon.  I love just 'being' with my boys, while they  do their own things; pottering around playing, reading, drawing or watching a film together. It's sometimes the smallest moments that matter the most...

Cath xx

Thursday 7th of March 2013

The weather dropped much colder again today, so we were all in need of something warm and soothing for supper tonight.  This lamb and barley soup is one of those nourishing bowlfuls that are not-quite-a-broth, but not-quite-a-stew either.  The soup is straightforward,  but it does take a little while to make.  Nothing taxing, though...

1 onion,  chopped
4 carrots, halved lengthways and sliced
2 sticks of celery,  sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1.5 litres lamb stock
350g diced stewing lamb
75g pearl barley, rinsed and drained

Put the chunks of lamb in a small roasting tin and pour over about 100ml of the lamb stock.  Place in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fry the onion in a little fat until soft,  then add the carrots and celery to the pan. Sprinkle over the dried thyme,  then add the remaining lamb stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer, then tip in the lamb from the roasting tin, along with the stock.  Add the pearl barley and cook for at least half an hour or until the barley and lamb are tender and cooked through.

This herby cheese that I like to serve with this soup, among others, can be scattered over the top or stirred through as those at the table see fit, is one of those last-preparations that takes hardly any effort yet lifts the meal to a different level, somehow. I like a  big handful of herbs, and a really good mixture; tonight I used lots of mint and parsley and just a few leaves of basil and thyme

200g block feta cheese
chopped fresh herbs (and see above)

Crumble the feta into a nice bowl and stir in the herbs.   Set aside until you're ready to serve it. Yes, that's it; the trick is finding the best combination of herbs for you and your family.  Try it, too, with lamb steaks still sizzling from the grill, or my Lamb Stew with Summer Flavours.

Cath xx

Souper, Smashing, Great...

I adore this soup, based of stock with lots of of good things added.  It can so easily be varied by changing very little. I sometimes make a more 'Spanish' version by swapping the bacon for chorizo, the beans for chickpeas and the pesto for smoked paprika.  However, my most usual soup of the type is this; filling and rustic in an Italian style...

I keep a couple of bags of the shredded leek-and-carrot mix in the freezer; I find it to be so much less hassle to do a big session of chopping once in a while than to have to start knife work every single time!  A couple of handfuls of the mixture is enough for one batch of soup and defrosts ever so quickly - I suspect that you could probably could use it straight from frozen, but I've never tried. **UPDATE: I now have, and you can! **

Bean & Bacon Soup with Small Pasta

I generally use macaroni, as I keep that in the storecupboard as a matter of course; you can always substitute another small 'soup' pasta (like conchigliette), or just use some broken-up bits of spaghetti.  This amount feeds all four of us comfortably, with enough left over for two small portions for lunches in the week.  It freezes well, too.

200g bacon, chopped up roughly
1 leek, halved and sliced
2 carrots, diced
1.5 litres chicken stock
2 tbsp pesto 
150g small pasta (and see above)
2x 300g cans borlotti beans, drained


Grated parmesan, to serve

Heat a very little oil in a large pan.  Fry the bacon until cooked and tinged with brown.  Scoop the bacon out of the pan and set aside.  Put the leek and carrot into the pan and fry until soft.  Add a little of the chicken stock and scrape up all the nice toasty bits that have 'caught' on the bottom of the pan, then put the bacon back in the pan, pour in the rest of the stock and bring to the boil.  Add the pesto and stir well, then tip in the pasta and cook for five minutes.  Add the beans and continue to cook until the pasta is al dente.  Ladle into warm bowls and serve, topped with plenty of freshly grated parmesan.

Cath xx

Passing it on...

This is something of an old-time family classic for me, one that my Mum cooked when I was a child and that I, in turn, now cook for my brood.  I'm sure that my boys will one day pass it on to their own families.

In fact this recipe was originally passed on to my Mum. A teacher at the school where she worked as a newly-qualified teacher, a lady named Doris, unselfishly passed on several of her recipes. Now, years later, I pass it, and others, on to you now through this blog.  Part and parcel of a love of cooking is, often, the almost obsessive collecting of recipes, which inevitably leads to the sharing of the same.  I understand the (perhaps perceived) necessity for a business to keep a 'secret recipe', but I have no real idea where the benefit might lie for a home cook.  Sure, I eat things that I'd rather keep secret, but that tends to be my 'dirty little secret' foods; Bombay mix eaten with a chunk of mature cheddar, cream crackers with cheese spread and sweet chilli sauce and peanut butter-and-salad sandwiches.  But I digress...  This is my version of the genuine article, modified as it is with my preferred garam masala replacing the curry powder used in the original recipe.  You can also use some chili powder for a spicier edge; try both, and decide for yourself which you prefer.  It works well in the slow-cooker too, but do make sure you buy condensed mushroom soup, not the regular kind, or the sauce will be altogether too watery.

Quick Chick

4 roasted peppers (from a jar!), cut up roughly with scissors
6 chicken thigh fillets, halved if very large.
1 tsp mild chilli powder
295g can condensed mushroom soup

Put the pepper into the bottom of an ovenproof dish (or, indeed, in the slow-cooker).  Put the pieces of chicken into a plastic bag, add the chilli powder and give it a good shake about.  This is by far the easiest way, but if you prefer, put the chilli powder on a plate and roll the chicken in it.  Pour and scrape the soup over the top of the chicken, it won't look like enough, but slap it about with a spatula to get a bit of the soup over all the bits of chicken.  Cover the dish with foil and stick it in a 180°c oven for 45 minutes or so.  Do all this in the morning, if you're using the slow-cooker, forget about the foil, stick the lid on and leave it on LOW all day.  Serve with rice, though noodles are also a very acceptable side dish.

 Cath xx

Little Bits of Loveliness

Crôutons can really add an extra dimension to a main course salad.  If, and when, you have a moment and feel like doing a little extra cooking, you could do worse than making a batch of crôutons instead of buying little bags of tiny, over-priced and over-seasoned, rock-hard bullets. They are easy and the flavourings (if any) can be varied to suit your palate or the sort of salads you like to make.  If they are well dried out in the oven they will keep really well in an airtight container, ready for you to fling into salads, soups or even pasta dishes (!) whenever the fancy takes you. 

Crôutons

100g white bread, crust cut off and cubed
2 tbsp olive oil  
flavourings (and see below)

Dry the cubes of bread out, a little, in a very low oven (less than 100°c), but don't let them colour.  Cool.  Meanwhile, whisk the oil and flavourings together in a large bowl. Drop the bread cubes in (all in one go) and stir until they are evenly coated-ish. Tip onto a baking tray and return to the oven to bake, slowly, for another 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. You will be able to tell, from the delicious smell, when they are ready.  Indeed, the smell will also tell you when they are burnt, so be alert.... Let them cool completely before using or storing, as this will retain the crunch.

As for flavourings, I mostly make my crôutons with smoked paprika, with cracked black pepper or with garlic and herbs. A pinch of salt helps bring the flavours together in every case except for my cheesy croutons (which are usually eaten with tomato soup), which I make using some grated parmesan mixed in after the oil and a little garlic.

Incidentally, one possible word of warning though.  I cannot, and will not, countenance the use of crôutons as a 'nibble' under any circumstances. I was shocked recently, to be offered a dish of mixed olives (fine, lovely), a single, whole, pickled artichoke heart (hmm...) and some clearly industrially-prepared-and-bagged crôutons masquerading as 'tapas' in a pretentious bar.  Okaaaay... rant over.

Cath xx

Easy as Pie

Let's face it, sometimes it just has to be pie.  However, at the moment I'm suffering from a nasty cold and don't feel much like elaborate, constructional cooking so tonight I opted for an easy route to pie pleasure.  Ready-rolled puff pastry is yet another of those ingredients that the modern home cook can give thanks for and for a quick assembly job like this, it's the perfect kitchen helper.  Something of a wellington, but much less of a fancy, formal meal... more of a pixie boot, really!
 
Easy Mushroom 'Pixie Pie'

2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
4 portobello mushrooms
150g soft cheese with garlic & herbs (I used Boursin)
1 egg, beaten with a splash of water and a pinch of salt

Cut the sheets of puff pastry in half widthways, and place a mushroom on each piece.  Spread the soft cheese over the mushroom 'gills', then brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and fold the corners into the centre to cover the filling.  Place on a baking sheet, then brush with more egg wash.  Cook at 180ºc for 40 minutes or so, until crisp and golden.

At Christopher's insistent request, I also served some small baked potatoes (though I personally feel that potatoes and pastry is de trop.  This garlic-and-lemon spinach is all I wanted...


Garlic-and-Lemon Spinach

So easy, and so fast.  I adore spinach any old how, but this is my absolute favourite way to cook it!

1 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves garlic, or to taste, chopped
200g leaf spinach, rinsed and just shaken dry
juice of 1/2 a lemon
black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chopped garlic.  When it is soft and fragrant, add the spinach, turning quickly in the garlicky oil, throw over the lemon juice and then clamp on the lid.  Let the spinach wilt, then give it a good grinding of black pepper and serve warm.

Cath xx

Creamy and Dreamy

A proper, old-fashioned cream-style soup is a real joy to cook and to eat.  At this time of year it also allows for judicious using up of leftovers in a way that they seem freshly comforting and welcome.  It's nice, also, when hanging around the house, to have the rhythms that cooking can bring to your life; it is all too easy to allow oneself to flop, unoccupied, in front of the television  at this time of year.  Getting up once in a while to potter in the kitchen provides a focus and, in some ways, an escape.  Here, I've infused the milk with some 'bread sauce' flavourings to the milk to bump up the festive factor!  Making stock with the turkey carcass is an annual job for Boxing Day; most of goes for soup of one sort or another, though I do siphon off a little to make a velouté sauce for a Turkey and Ham pie filling.

Cream of Turkey Soup

500ml milk
1 small onion, peeled and halved
few cloves
few peppercorns
2 small bay leaves
grating of fresh nutmeg
450ml turkey stock
30g turkey dripping (or butter)
30g plain flour
leftover turkey meat, cut into small shreds
a splash of double cream, if you have some to hand (well, it is Christmas!)
white pepper and salt, to taste

Stick a couple of cloves into each onion half, then place all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring just to boiling point.  Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse. Add the turkey stock to the cold milk, then add the fat and flour and bring to the boil, whisking continuously.

When it is smooth and combined, add the shreds of turkey meat and then, when it has returned to boiling point, turn the heat down and simmer until thickened.  Swirl in the cream and then season with white pepper (to keep that creamy beige unspeckled) and add a little salt if you think it needs it.

 Lovely, creamy soup like this with homemade bread, could only be improved upon as a meal by a tranche of this year's Christmas cake and a fine chunk of Stilton... Bliss!

Cath xx

Noodles For My Little Noodles

This noodle soup has, for a very long time, been one of my secret and most satisfying comfort foods. One of those fab things you eat, slurpily, from a bowl in front of the telly. Or, in bed (and hang the sheets), if things are really bad. It had never occurred to me to cook it for the children until the other day, which is odd as (1) I spend so much time thinking about their diet and (2) it is such a flexible option feast, and can be made to contain all sorts of things they like. This, my favourite, was their first taste of noodle soup and I'm gratified that it was a rip-roaring success. I can see this becoming a rather enjoyable habit.

My Favourite Noodle Soup

Use whatever amounts seem suitable for your needs

GOOD chicken or pork stock
green Thai curry paste
finely sliced spring onions
sweetcorn, frozen or canned
pak choi or other greens 
dried fine egg noodles
cooked chicken or pork, shredded
soy sauce, to taste

Break the slab of noodles up a bit and put them in a bowl. Cover them with boiling water from the kettle, put clingfilm over the bowl and leave to soak . Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil in a good-sized saucepan and stir in the curry paste. Slice the greens finely and put it into the boiling stock with the spring onions and sweetcorn kernels. Shred the cooked meat and drain the noodles, then add these to the soup as well. Season with a bit of soy sauce, tip into deep bowls and serve, with plenty of napkins and prawn crackers too, if you fancy.

I confess to something of the MTD's (Mum's Two Dinners) tonight - I had a bowlful of this noodle soup with the boys earlier, and will be enjoying a repeat performance when the Hubster gets home later...

Best Trays of My Life (sorry...)

Last night, as Hubby was working a weird shift and wasn't home for supper, the boys and I needed a delicious Sunday dinner which would be light of cooking duties for yours truly. A full-on roast-and-trimmings is easier to manage when we are two; one (i.e. me) cooking the meal and the other occupied with child-wrangling. Such fun we have... As cooking in trays in the oven is definitely the easy option, this - not so much a one-pot supper as a two-trays feast, was the result.

To start off, I made some herb butter with tarragon, parsley and mint, then poked some of it under the skin of a chicken. I roasted another tray full of chunked-up leeks, carrots and potatoes, with the rest of the herb butter. As there were only three of us to eat, there were lots of leftovers. I stripped the meat from the chicken and made stock from the carcass this morning; these will go towards tomorrow night's dinner.

The leftover vegetables went to make this soup for lunch today - with boiling water to cover, I simmered the veg until very soft, added plenty of pepper (the secret- along with a shot of dry sherry - of a truly good vegetable soup, i feel), then whizzed it all in the blender. No work at all, really, and enough for two lunches, with cheese toasties on the side. Result, three clean bowls.

Love Food? LOVE this Soup...

I can't help being proud of myself when someone else publishes one of my recipes. Not that this one really is mine, mind you. This is my version of my Mum's vegetable soup, made with the leftovers from a roast dinner. I submitted it to Love Food, Hate Waste, they published it and here it is for you.

Roast Dinner Soup

How many servings you get out of this depends, obviously, on how much you’ve got in the way of leftovers. I normally get 2-3 lunch sized portions out of an average roast dinner's worth. If you have made stock from the bones it would be really good to use this in the soup. Add some grated cheese or croutons to serve.  The apotheosis of this soup is that which I make on Boxing Day each year, with turkey stock from the carcass and the leftover veg, etc. from Christmas lunch.

Roast potatoes and/or parsnips
Cooked vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, courgettes,
Meat stock to cover

Ground black pepper

Put the potatoes and vegetables in a suitably sized pan (one that holds them snugly in the bottom and about halfway up the inside). Cover with stock by about 2cm (go easy, you can always add more to adjust the consistency).Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook for about 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated through.Liquidise the soup with a hand-held electric blender. Taste the soup and season. This is a soup that needs plenty of pepper. Serve in mugs or bowls with grated cheese or croutons.

Photo: lovefoodhatewaste.com

Minest-phoney

This is for the days when I feel, shall we say, a touch harried. Being able to set the table and put out some bread and cheese while this (ersatz, but none the worse for it, taste-wise) soup gets together calms me down, and the sheer fact of a (semi) home-cooked meal makes even a tense day seem calmer.

Minestrone 'Molto Pronto'

500ml vegetable stock (or chicken, if you prefer)
300g 'special mixed' frozen vegetables
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g can pasta in tomato sauce

Bring the stock to the boil and tip in the still-frozen vegetables. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the contents of both the cans, stirring well. Season with plenty of black pepper (I don't bother with salt; those cans of pasta-in-sauce are quite salty enough). Leave to heat through thoroughly on a medium setting.

If you always have the wherewithal to cook a panful of this in the house, you'll never struggle for dinner, and it's one that will delight children and adults alike. So cheap, too (ignoring the approximate ton of cheese we always put away when I make this for supper) - I used bargain basics tomatoes and spaghetti in tomato sauce tonight; it tasted no different to when I've made it with the fancier equivalents. You can ring the changes for those fickle enfants terribles by using different types of character pasta-in-sauce too - Spiderman has been particularly popular in our house - and I love making it with Alphabetti ! I'm easily pleased, I know, but the little letters (and you can now get Numberetti) always make me smile.

Long Awaited

Do you ever find that you've spent all day looking forward to what you've planned to cook for supper that night? Daydreaming about suet pastry, wine bubbling and steaming into a pan,or the smell of curry spices, when you should be doing something else? Speculatively eyeing the clock, in forlorn hope that it'll soon be time to get cooking? I hope so, because I certainly do!

Take today for instance. Because we had roast chicken last night, I got up a little earlier this morning to put some chicken stock on, preparing for a batch of what we now call Mexican Chicken Soup. Maybe it was the fact of making that small effort, maybe it was just how much I like the taste, but all day long I was thinking about that meal; even finding reasons to mention it in conversation so that I could dwell on it just a little longer.

I didn't disappoint, I'm happy - and a trifle relieved -to say. I really enjoyed my (first and second) helping, even managing to save some leftovers, ready for portioning out into boxes for the freezer.

As a footnote I did, this time, decide to use my posited shortcut idea of substituting shop-bought tortilla chips for the deep-fried tortilla strips. Just as enjoyable, in a different way, but massively less effort.

Soup Night

A bowl of soup with bread and cheese to accompany it must be one of the most pleasing and convivial suppers there is. I make a lot of soup nowadays, though I've mentioned before my childhood aversion to the stuff (except for my mum's fab vegetable soups). I still have a horror of tinned soup, though I know a lot of people have a nostalgic hankering for a particular tomato soup... An essential part of what have become our 'soup nights' is the pudding. We always like to follow soup etc. with a proper pud, something hearty and rib-sticking. Preferably with custard.

Neither of the boys are particularly keen on mushrooms 'as is', but this soup always goes down well, having all the lovely flavour but none of the somewhat difficult texture. I like to boost the fairly pedestrian button mushrooms with a good heap of dried porcini and a good bit of thyme, which goes wonderfully with mushrooms.


Cream of Mushroom Soup

80g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
fresh thyme leaves
250g button mushrooms, finely chopped
10g dried porcini
50g cornflour
1/2 pint milk

Soak the dried porcini in 1 1/2 pints of water from the kettle. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and fry the onion, thyme and button mushrooms until soft. Add the cornflour and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring all the time. Pour in the porcini and their soaking liquid, add the milk and bring to the boil, still stirring all the time. Turn down the heat and simmer for half an hour. Purée and reheat, adjusting the seasoning to taste.

I like a swirl of cream and a scattering of chopped fresh parsley, but -hey - your decision!

The pudding I chose to cook last night was one that has been adopted as a self-conciously 'retro' classic. I mean it, though, I love this and cook it often. Rather than doing it in a cake tin, though, try a pie tin. You get a lovely domed effect, not unlike a tarte tatin. Speaking of which, why is that 'fashionable' and this 'retro'? I know which I'd rather have.

Pineapple Upside-Down Pudding

To me this is emphatically a pudding, and not a cake.

pineapple rings, juice or syrup reserved
glacé cherries
4oz butter, plus 2 tbsp more
4oz light muscovado sugar, plus 2 tbsp more

2 eggs

4oz self-raising flour
pinch baking powder (about 1/4 tsp)

Press the 2 tbsp butter onto the bottom of a deep pie tin and scatter over the 2 tbsp sugar. Place pineapple rings in the base of the tin, filling each central void with a glacé cherry.

Cream the remaining butter and sugar together, add the beaten eggs, flour and baking powder. Add a little of the pineapple juice or syrup to make a smooth and soft cake batter, then dollop and spread this over the pineapple base. Bake at 180°c for 25 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake with a palette knife, put an upturned plate on top of the tin then flip it all over to unmould the pudding in all its glory. Serve warm, with lashings of custard.

Cauli-wobbles

I don't know what I would do without soup anymore; it is such a fab way of getting a lovely meal together quickly. Christopher has been talking about 'soup day' lately, so I suppose all the boys have now accepted it as a fait accompli; Mummy loves soup. As last week's vegetable box contained a large cauliflower, all creamy white and gorgeous, I wanted to do something to make it the real focus of a meal. Cauliflower cheese was the obvious choice, but turning it into this delicately-flavoured, but still very filling, soup meant I could do some of my Cheesy Soda Bread to go with. Christopher has been going on at me to make it again ever since we had it last week, so tonight I finally gave in. Hopefully this will silence the nagging for a day or two). This easily made enough for 4 adults, but the leftovers will make a fine lunch for the children and me tomorrow.

Cauliflower Soup

1 onion, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 large cauliflower, trimmed and separated into florets
800ml vegetable stock
300ml milk

Heat some olive oil in a large pan and sweat the onion until softened. Add the potato and cauliflower florets, turning them in the fat and juices before pouring in the stock. Stir in the milk, then bring to the boil. Simmer for 25 minutes or so, until the vegetables are really soft and falling to bits. You can help this process along by breaking them up with a wooden spoon as they cook. Purée the soup and season it to taste, then reheat if necessary and serve.

It occurs to me that you could fry some spices with the onion at the start if you want to take this in a different direction. Cumin would be my first choice, but I think some garam masala would be a good option too. I sometimes fry up the leftover cauliflower from a roast in garlic oil with a bit of curry powder. The subtle taste of the vegetable seems a perfect foil for the warm spiciness of Indian flavours.

Tear 'n' Share

This afternoon was definitely my girly time. After playgroup with the boys this morning I rushed them home, then left them with Hubby and rushed out again. I had a hair appointment, then enjoyed some much-needed retail therapy. Some of it was Christmas shopping, some just, well, shopping.

That did mean, however, that I needed something quick to make for supper. Something that was still special, so as not to short-change Karl and the boys when I'd been out enjoying myself. Because we had loads of carrots from the last couple of veg boxes, I decided to make a big pan of my carrot and coriander soup, which always goes down well, then added a loaf of this cheesy soda bread. Like all soda breads it is very quick to make - even more so if you can do it in a freestanding mixer.

Cheesy Soda Bread

250g plain flour
200g wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
250ml buttermilk
100ml milk
cheddar cheese
mixed dried herbs

Mix the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl, then add the buttermilk and milk. Mix well, then turn the dough onto an oiled baking sheet and press or roll out flat(tish). Cover with a couple of handfuls of grated cheddar cheese, then sprinkle over some mixed dried herbs. Bake for 25 minutes at 180°c, then transfer to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm, cutting or tearing the bread into pieces to share.

Pork and Peasant's Pottage

Last night I tried my hand at cooking a meal with Chinese-y flavours, which we all enjoyed. I can't claim that it was even remotely authentic, but it was my attempt at imitating char siu pork. Not very closely as it turned out, but it was very tasty nonetheless.

Chinese-style Pork

500g pork fillet
soy sauce
honey
zest and juice of a clementine (or half an orange)
lump of fresh ginger, peeled

Pour soy sauce (several tablespoons) into a shallow dish, then dollop in some honey. Add the clementine zest and juice, then grate in some fresh ginger. Grind in some black pepper, then whisk it all together. Turn the pork fillet in this marinade, then clingfim the dish and stick it in the fridge overnight. The next day, let the pork come up to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 200°c. Cook the pork for about 40 minutes, basting with the marinade and juices in the tin every so often. Slice the fillet thinly and serve with rice and steamed greens.


Tonight's dinner was rather more traditional. It's great fun to try out different ideas and play with cooking, but equally lovely to return to the more familiar and homely way of cooking. This chunky vegetable soup is economical at the end of the week and easily adaptable to whatever's still hanging around from last week's veg box. Cooking the bacon separately and adding it just before serving means that the crisp texture is retained and the flavour stands alone. I tend to use my 'vegetable peelings' stock to make soups like this, but chicken stock would be fabulous, or you could substitute a good-quallity bought stock if you prefer.

'Rustic' Vegetable Soup

1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
chopped thyme, rosemary, bay etc.
6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
800ml vegetable stock
about half a cabbage, shredded

several rashers of streaky bacon

Put the bacon onto a baking sheet and cook it in a 200°c oven. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil (garlic-infused is good) in a large pan and gently fry the onion, carrot and celery with the herbs until the vegetables start to soften slightly. Add the potatoes, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Stir the shredded cabbage into the broth, then cover the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove the bacon from the oven, roughly chop the rashers and add to the soup just before serving, with bread and cheese to accompany it.

Quickies

I was so pleased with the boys and my lunch today. We often have a bowl of soup for lunch, either freshly made or defrosted, but today's batch really was in a league of its own.

There were quite a lot of potatoes and chunks of butternut squash left over after dinner last night, so I'd stashed them in a plastic box and put them in the fridge. This morning, unable to bear the thought of wasting them, I decided to do my usual thing of turning any cooked vegetables that are languishing in the fridge into a lunchtime soup. The habit is inspired by my Mum's brilliant roast dinner soups, made with the leftovers and stock from the bones. They're really good and for years were the only soups I'd eat.

I simmered the potatoes and squash pieces in some vegetable stock until they were really soft and collapsing, then puréed it all using my hand-held stick blender. A splash of milk to let the soup down to the consistency I wanted, a quick reheat and lunch was ready. You can clearly adapt this to anything you want to use, or use up. Leftover roast 'Mediterranean'-type vegetables make a good soup, as does (to my mind) any cheesy mashed potato that wasn't gobbled up the first time around.

With some bread rolls and a couple of cheeses to pick at, it was a lunch I'd happily have again and again. I'd even consider strategically planning the same dinner for the night before we have guests for lunch so that I could make it for them.

In other news, I made my Christmas cake today. I've already published the recipe for my Celebration Fruit Cake, which I make every year for Christmas and occasionally for other reasons. I've double-wrapped it in greaseproof paper and foil and tucked it away in a tin to be decorated the week before the big day.

The Good Things in Life

You know the saying, "you don't know what you're missing..."? Tonight's dinner pretty well sums that up for me. Because neither of my parents can stand them, we never had parsnips in the house and I didn't so much as taste one until I was 20. Once I did, though, I was hooked. This soup recipe comes from the peerless Jane Grigson's wonderful book Good Things and is quite simply perfect in its simplicity. I adore this book and, if you don't already have a copy I heartily recommend it. It has recently been republished in hardback by Grub Street. The recipe itself calls for beef stock but, as I didn't have any in the freezer this time, I substituted duck stock, which I did have. It worked very well, too - though I wouldn't want to cook it with anything other than a strong, richly-flavoured homemade stock. As the book was first published in 1971, the recipe uses imperial measurements and I have left it alone. I can't compete with Mrs Grigson; these words are hers.

Curried Parsnip Soup

3oz butter
large parsnip
4oz chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
tablespoon flour
rounded teaspoon curry powder
2 pints hot beef stock (and see above)
1/4 pint cream
chives

Peel and slice the parsnip. Put the onion, parsnip and garlic into a heavy pan with the butter and cook for 10 minutes slowly with the lid on the pan. The vegetables must not brown, but gently absorb the butter. Add flour and curry powder to take up the fat, and gradually incorporate the hot beef stock. Simmer until the parsnip is cooked. Liquidize or push through the mouli-légumes. Return to the pan, correct seasoning with salt, pepper and a little more curry powder if liked (but be cautious: keep the flavour mild). Add the cream and a sprinkling of chopped chives. Serve with croûtons of bread fried in butter and oil.

Note: liquidized soup may need the further dilution of some extra stock, or some creamy milk.

I feel I must confess that we didn't eat the soup with croûtons, but with homemade bread and some chorizo sausage. The spicy paprika flavour is brilliant with this subtly-flavoured, velvety potage.