March 22nd, 2008
A Good Friday Feast Category: Recipes
Yesterday I started off by making Nigella’s Hot Cross Buns. The texture is actually more of a scone type bun than a shop bought one, but rather tasty and delicious when toasted.
March 22nd, 2008
Yesterday I started off by making Nigella’s Hot Cross Buns. The texture is actually more of a scone type bun than a shop bought one, but rather tasty and delicious when toasted.
November 4th, 2007
This is my catch up post as I’ve been lazy!
Over the last two weeks I have made a tomato curry, took my first (self-taught) lesson in sugar craft, made more soup (roasted tomato and pepper with tarragon) and made up a claire original butternut squash tart. So here goes…
Tomato Curry – it turned out ok but definitely needed more sauce to it..
I made the curry on a Friday night & I will add the recipe when I can lay my hands on it. It was tasty just a bit too dry.
Cake Art – this is something I hope to play with more over the coming months. I’d really like to be a able to bake and decorate some really nice cakes. Anyway this was my first attempt at icing sugar paste and making flowers…
And the final product… (they did taste good!)
Next on my list of accomplishments is another soup (sorry if I’m getting boring here, but it’s that time of year).
This time it was Slow-roasted tomato and red pepper soup – it was really tasty & we have 2 servings in the freezer…
Ingredients (Serves 4)
Serving suggestion – toasted baguette with a slightly melted topping of Crottin de Chavignol AOC (Goats Cheese)
How to Do It
We served with crusty bread & butter.
The tarragon added a creamy sort of taste – it really was very nice. Possibly one of my favourite tomato soups.
Lastly we have my original Butternut Squash Tart… based on Simon Rimmers Feta & Spinach Free-form pie in Septembers Delicious Magazine. I made it to use up the left over butternut squash from the soup the other day.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
How to Do It
October 29th, 2007
Today it was dark when we got home. How depressing.
To cheer us up I made the Pumpkin Soup from the November Sainsbury magazine – a recipe by Tana Ramsay. The recipe says that you can you use any squash so we picked up two butternut squashes – I think all the pumpkins must have gone to good homes in time for Halloween.
Ingredients (Serves 6)
How to Do It
Heat oil & butter in large pan
Add garlic & rosemary
Add the squash and let it cook for a few minutes until the squash starts to colour (If you are adding the Parmesan rind pop it in at this stage and let it melt a little bit)
Let everything simmer for 25 minutes – the squash will be soft
Cool slightly then remove the stalks from the rosemary and the Parmesan rind
Using a liquidiser or hand held blender blend until smooth
Warm the soup back up & serve with crusty bread
I have to hold my hands up & say I ended up making half the quantity above, cutting a raw butternut squash is blumin’ hard work!
Now I need to find a recipe that calls for roasted squash – I think I’ve seen one with feta cheese lying around here somewhere…
October 8th, 2007
The nights are drawing in and soup is most definitely the order of the day. This years soup making started up in Scotland when I made a hearty pan of Yellow Split Pea Soup – it was thick and filling and extremely tasty.
I think one of the best things about soup is that simple ingredients produce flavours that normally exceed your expectations. For example tonight I made Butternut Squash & Rosemary soup:
Ingredients (serves 4)
How to Do It
Whilst the squash is in the oven –
We both had a hearty bowlful for tea and now there should be enough left to take to work for lunch.
Since we have been back from Scotland I’ve made soup at least four times & I’ve made enough to take for a lunch. We bought some cheap flasks from Tesco & so far they work very well. I may even invest in something a little more substantial as ‘real soup’ makes such a difference to a ‘cup-a-soup’ which is what I have resorted to in the past.
I’ll post some more recipes soon, but so far we have tried & thoroughly enjoyed the Yellow Split Pea soup and Fennel & Lemon soup.
I also have quite a few parsnips in the cupboard which I need to use up, so if you have any good parsnip soup ideas let me know!
August 28th, 2007
I’ve been full of a horrible cold all bank holiday weekend & I’m feeling no better (if not a bit worse) today. I’ve had to call in sick to work as I am not up for anything except dozing in bed & watching bad daytime TV.
So to make myself feel a little bit better I made my myself a traditional lunch for such occasions! Chicken sandwiches with Heinz Cream of Mushroom soup.
We have a birthday to attend later tonight – luckily I have to move nowhere as Liverpool is celebrating its 800th Birthday with a firework display right opposite our settee. How very kind of them, I dont even have to get dressed properly! With any luck some we may get some good pictures.