Spicy roasted butternut

Great added to risotto or blitzed up with some stock to make a soup.

butternut, peeled and chopped into big chunks

dash sesame oil

about half a jar of sundried tomatoes in oil - chop the tomatoes and use the oil

2 tsp grated ginger

2 grated garlic cloves

2 tsp gochujang

1 tsp maple syrup

salt and pepper

Change the quantities of these ingredients to taste.

Mix the butternut with the other ingredients and bake in the oven at 200C until the butternut is cooked and turning brown on the edges. Stir it around part way through.Needs about 40 mins total.

Runner Bean and Gorgonzola Soup

or runner bean soup if you don't like blue cheese

500g runner beans, destringed if necessary and chopped

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

about 700ml stock

fresh mint leaves from 3 stems

Saute the veg together in a mixture of olive oil and butter for about 10mins, then add the mint leaves and stock and season. Bring to boil and simmer until the veg is soft, about 20 minutes. Blitz with a hand blender.

Pour into soup bowls and top with some chopped up gorgonzola (or some cooked crispy bacon bits if you don't like cheese).

Courgette, bacon and egg pie

Shortcrust pastry made with 250g flour. I actually blitzed some leftover spicy tortilla chips (about 50g) and substituted them for some of the flour - it worked and added a bit of texture to the pastry.

1 onion, finely chopped

2 small courgettes, diced

500g cooking bacon

2 large eggs, beaten

chopped parsley or other herbs

Fry the bacon in its own fat, pouring off excess liquid, then add the onion and courgette and fry until golden and slightly softened and not liquidy. Set aside to cool.

Beat eggs and herbs together, season with pepper (not salt as the bacon is salty enough)

Roll out the pastry into 2 discs, line a pie dish with one, then put the bacon mixture in, then pour over the beaten egg mixture. Put the lid on and crimp the edges together.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 fan.

We preferred it cold the next day, but it was nice lukewarm with some fresh veg.

Blackcurrant compote

350g blackcurrants

80g sugar

2 - 3 tbsp water

Remove berries from stalks, put in a saucepan with the sugar and water, bring to boil and simmer gently until the sugar has dissolved and the berries start to burst (about 3 or 4 minutes).

Delicious stirred into plain yoghurt.

Baguette

Ingredients

Poolish Starter:

For 750g dough total:
150g strong white flour
150g cool water
1/8 tsp dry yeast (or 2g fresh yeast)

For 1kg dough total:
200g strong white flour
200g cool water
1/6 tsp dry yeast or 3g fresh yeast

Dough:

For 750g dough total:
300g strong white flour
1.5 tsp dry yeast or 13g fresh yeast
150g cool water
2tsp salt
the poolish as above based on the 750g total

For 1kg dough total:
400g strong white flour
2 tsp dry yeast or 17g
200g cool water
2 2/3 tsp salt
the poolish as above based on the 1kg total

1. 12 - 15 hours before you want to start the actual dough (16 - 19 hours before you want the bread to be completely finished and ready to eat) make the poolish by mixing all the poolish ingredients together with a rubber spatula until just combined. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave 12 - 15 hours (overnight) at room temperature. At this stage, make sure you have some ice cubes made ready for baking the bread.

2. The poolish should be bubbly and expanded after that time, so add all the dough ingredients and mix roughly with the rubber spatula again - it will be cohesive, but lumpy with some flour. Leave it for 20 minutes for the liquid to absorb.

3. Knead the dough, either by stretching, pulling and folding by hand, or in the Kitchen Aid with the dough hook for 3 - 4 mins. Do not over-knead - it should not be smooth at this stage, otherwise the finished bread will be tough.

4. Take the dough out of the bowl, oil the bowl, put the dough back and leave it for half an hour, covered.

5. Stretch and fold the dough a couple of times and replace in the bowl, cover. Leave for another half an hour and repeat the stretching and folding. Cover and leave for a further hour to rise

6. Transfer the dough to an oiled work surface, divide into 3 pieces and gently pre-form into 3 log shapes. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

7. Shape the dough properly into baguettes by folding and rolling gently a few times.

8. Put the baguettes into a floured couche or greased baguette pan or baking sheet (you can improvise a couche using cylindrical items such as rolling pins.) Cover with greased plastic wrap and leave for about 40 minutes to rise.

9. About half way through the proving time, pre-heat the oven to the hottest it can go. Put a baking pan at the bottom of the oven.

10. When the baguettes have risen about 85%, score them with 4 diagonal cuts with a sharp blade, spray them with water and put them in the oven (removing the linen couche and/or any cylindrical objects if you used them!) Throw some ice cubes into the pan at the bottom of the oven and bake for around 20 minutes until golden brown.  Ideally, leave them to cool down before cutting them, or they will contain to much moisture and the texture will be gummy. However, you need a will of iron for that.

Example timings:
Day before 7pm make the poolish, make ice cubes
Day of baking
8am          Mix the dough, leave to rest
8.20am     Knead the dough 3-4 mins, put in oiled bowl, leave covered.
8.50am     Stretch and fold the dough, re-cover.
9.20am     Stretch and fold the dough, re-cover.
10,20am   Divide into 3
10.40am   Shape into baguettes and put in couche to prove
11am        Preheat oven to hottest you can, put a baking pan in the bottom to heat up.
11.20 - 11.30
Put the baguettes onto a baguette pan/baking sheet, score them, spray them.
Put them in the oven and at the same time throw ice cubes into the hot tray at the base of the oven.
11:40 - 11:50 (about 20 minutes baking time) remove from oven, leave to cool before devouring!
12pm go on then, try them if you must!
12.10 ideally leave them until at least now before you try them, but you probably haven't.

Arancini

We had some wild garlic risotto left over and I've always fancied having a go at Arancini. I was pleasantly surprised with the results - although mine were way too big. Next time I need to make them more like golf balls - I ended up having to flatten them into rissole shapes to get them to cook through. But they were lovely and crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. In these times of COVID 19 I was all out of mozzarella and not allowed to nip up the shop to get some, so a mixture of red leicester and philly cheese had to suffice, along with a bit of chopped ham.

left over risotto - about a cereal bowl full made 6 massive arancini
1 egg
90g flour
breadcrumbs
oil for deep frying
a bit of mozzarella or other grated cheese for the filling; chopped up ham worked well too. Basil would be nice I think. You don't need much.

Whisk the egg and flour to a thick batter, adding water as needed.
Put the breadcrumbs on a plate.
Get spoonfuls of the chilled risotto, flatten out, add a bit of filling and shape the rice around it into a ball about the size of a golf ball. Dip into the batter to coat it generously, then roll in the breadcrumbs.
Fry the balls in oil - we used a mix of olive oil and sunflower oil - until they are golden brown.
A tomato sauce would go well with them. I hadn't made one, but I had some garlic mushrooms and a dollop of Thai sweet chili dipping sauce. Heresy or fusion? You decide. I enjoyed it.

Celeriac Mash

Celeriac mash has a tendency to be a bit watery. This version is lovely and smooth and creamy.
Great with a roast, or with some nice sausages and gravy.

1 celeriac, peeled and cut roughly into 3cm chunks
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
sprig of fresh thyme
about 200ml milk, semi skimmed is fine
salt and pepper

1. Put the celeriac chunks, thyme and garlic in a heavy saucepan, pour over enough milk to come about half way up the celeriac, but not cover it all. Add a pinch or two of salt.

2. Bring to the boil, cover, then reduce to a gentle simmer - keep your eye on it. If it looks like it's drying out too much, add a splash more milk. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking and burning.

3. When the celeriac is soft (after about 15 mins or so), remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender.

4. Adjust seasoning, adding pepper and nutmeg if you want. Serve immediately.