Butternut Squash and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

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Since last night the summer soup break is officially over. I love soup and it is getting to that time of year where the evenings are getting cold and dark enough to have loads of it. Don't get me wrong I'll occassionaly eat soup during the summer, but only when I eat out.

The last couple of days, since getting back from Germany it has been pretty miserable outside, so the weather combined with my cold made me crave a bowl of hot, steaming soup. While I was at my mum and dad's house, one of the local farm shops had a pumpkin and potato fete, which really got me into thinking about autumn and all it's glory, the lovely colours, the frosty and misty mornings, the still sunny days and of course all the autumn vegetables that are already or will soon be available everywhere.

Inspired by all the glorious varieties at the farm shop fete, I quickly decided that pumpkin soup would be the first soup I would make. When I went to my local shop here though all I could get my hands on was a butternut squash, so that's what I used, but if you have of a beautiful pumpkin why not use that instead. I also cheated and used roast pepper from a jar, as it needed using up, but you could easily roast your own at the same time as the squash or pumpkin.



As butternut squash is in season here in the UK in September, I'll enter this into Maninas: Food Matters' Eating with Seasons: September blog event. Go check it out, there are still a couple of days left to enter!

Butternut Squash and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
(serves 3-4)

1 butternut squash
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 rosted red pepper, chopped
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
1 red chili, desseded and chopped finely
1- 1 1/4 litre vegetable stock
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with a spoon.

Drizzle with a little olive oil and place in a baking tray in an oven at 200C/Gas 5 for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the flesh is soft.

In the meantime heat a little oil in a large, heavy-based pan and sweat the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add the pepper, ginger, chili and half of the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Once the butternut squash or pumpkin is done, scoop out all the soft flesh and add to the pan. Puree, using a stick blender until smooth and add the rest of the stock until you get your desired thickness.

Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

Serve with some fresh, crusty bread.

Returning from Germany with a Dutch Recipe - Fillet Bake Amsterdam

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I got back from Germany yesterday morning. After only a few hours sleep I caught an early flight back to the UK, got in a taxi, dropped my suitcase off at my flat and went straight into work. On top of all that I've been coming down with a cold the last couple of days. So, needless to say I wasn't much in the mood for cooking last night and just shoved a pizza into the oven.

Luckily though I got to try two new recipes while I stayed at my mum and dad's house, so that I have something to blog about. This first one my mum made on the day I arrived. I have no idea why it has Amsterdam in the title and don't really think it is typically Dutch, but it was very good nevertheless and it's easy to make as well. I'd happily serve it to friends at in informal dinner. If you don't have majoram you can use oregano, you'll just need a little less.



Fillet Bake Amsterdam (serves 4)

250gr ribbon pasta
150gr Edam cheese, grated
500gr pork fillet
100gr sliced deli ham, cut into strips
40gr butter
1 carton single cream (half and half)
125ml vegetable stock
a dash of white wine
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste


Preheat your oven to 180C/ Gas 4.

Cook the pasta al dente, drain and mix with 50gr of the grated cheese.

Place into an oven proof dish.

Melt the butter in a frying pan, cut the pork fillet into 1 inch slices, season with salt, pepper and majoram to taste and fry until sealed.

Place the fillet on top of the pasta and return the pan to the hob.

Pour the cream and stock into the pan and stir well, making sure that you loosen all the residue from the fillet into the sauce.

Bring to a simmer and cook until it has thickened a little. Season with salt, pepper, majoram and a dash of white wine, before pouring it over the pasta and meat.

Sprinkle with the strips of ham and top everything with the remaining cheese.

Place in your preheated oven for about 20 Minutes until the cheese turns golden.

And the Winner is.....

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Drum roll please.......the copy of The Irish Spirit cookbook goes to ........Maninas from Maninas: Food Matters is the lucky person whose name I pulled out of the hat (well, it was a bowl really). Congratulations!



Thanks to everyone for entering the give away. It was the first one I ever did, but I'm sure it won't be the last one on here, so keep on checking!

I'm off to Germany tomorrow morning to visit my family and hopefully I'll have a handful of new recipes to share on my return. I better get on with packing my bags!

Manina's, I've e-mailed you..........

I'll let you know....

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So the deadline for the cookbook give away is gone, thanks to everyone who entered. I have just made a list of all the people who entered and will draw and announce a winner later today. Watch this space.........

Chicken Peanut Curry or Addicted to Peanut Butter

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I love peanut butter. I like it on sandwiches with or without jam, in cookies and in savoury dishes like satay and this Chicken Peanut Curry. The funny thing is that I remember the first time I tried it I didn't like it at all. You see, in Germany, it isn't as popular as in America and many people probably won't have heard of a PB&J Sandwich. So when I bought a jar some time in my teens I didn't enjoy it. I didn't mind the taste but hated the way it made your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth. Well, I have definitely been converted since.

The best peanut butter I have ever had is the freshly ground honey roast peanut butter from Whole Foods Market in America. I always by some when I'm there and bring it back, but as I don't get to go to the States regularly, I usually have a large jar of organic Suma Unsalted Chunky Peanut Butter in my cupboard, which is just that, chunky ground peanuts without any other additives.

I find peanut butter and peanuts quite addictive and can never just eat a handful or just one sandwich, which is bad and I have as a result been known to continue eating until I feel slightly unwell, which is not good and I'm ashamed to admit. What's the thing you can't stop eating?



Chicken Peanut Curry (serves 2)

1 large chicken breast fillet, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp red curry paste, heaped (this time I used Korma paste)
2 tbsp chunky or smooth peanut butter
3/4 can of coconut milk
1 tsp ginger syrup (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce or nam pla
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and chicken until the chicken is sealed on the outside.

Add the pepper and the garlic and fry for another minute or so.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until everything is well combined.

Bring to a simmer and cook until your chicken is cooked through.

Serve with Jasmin rice.

Some pictures

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Okay, so this doesn't have anything to do with cooking or even food, but many of you left comments saying they'd like to see some pictures from my holiday in Ireland, so I thought I'd be obliging and share a couple.......















Remember, if you haven't done so already you need to leave a comment on Returning with a Give Away by 31st August, for your chance to win a copy of The Irish Spirit cookbook!

The Omnivore's Hundred

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I've seen this posted on a couple of blogs now and thought I'd join in.

Andrew over at Very Good Taste, posted a list containing 100 food items (well some I think you can call food if you're very adventurous), that he believes every omnivore should try in their lifetime. He encourages everyone to have a look at the list and see how they're doing with it.

So, without further ado here is the list. The items in orange are the ones I have tried and the ones that are in italics (I couldn't figure out how to do the strike through thingy) are the ones I don't think I could bring myself to try without getting very, very drunk first and even then the chances would still be rather slim.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht (definitely something on my to try list for this atumn/winter)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (Someone suggested that the German Töttchen is pretty much the same and I have tried that when I was very little, didn't like it though!)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (I have had both, but never at the same time.)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (Do all those flies count that I have swallowed whilst cycling in the summer?)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (of course I have, I'm German)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (my dad once ran over a pheasant and my mum, plugged it, gutted it and put it in the pot)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Two stars had to do for me so far, I'm afraid)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Go on try your own results and write about them on your blog, this is what Andrew wants you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Okay, I guess I'm not doing to badly 49 out of 100 I have tried (50 if you count the flies swallowed while cycling) and there are only 3 I wouldn't try. I have to admit though that I'd struggle with the Phal, because twice now I have attempted to try a Vindaloo and hated every bit of it. That's just too hot for me and the reason why I wouldn't try the Scotch Bonnet. I guess I'd try it though if it meant completing the list. It's the sweetbreads, brain and intestines that I'd really struggle with. I have had kidney and liver and like neither (strangely I do love pate and the foi gras wasn't that bad either, even though I have no intention of ever eating it again), so I don't think I'd want to try the others.

Sweetcorn Fritters

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The other day I bought some cobs of corn and they'd been lying around in my fridge waiting for me to eat them. Usually, I would just grill the corn as it is and have it with a herb butter or just simply with some butter and salt and pepper, but I didn't really have anything to serve alongside and didn't want to go out spending more money on groceries this week either. Plus, tomorrow I have to draw the contents of my fridge for an artist book project I'm involved in, so I don't want to fill it up with more stuff (Be honest, is there ever a time when you go to the grocery shop and only pick up the thing you actually went in for?!), instead I wanted to empty it out a bit to make my job easier.

I've been meaning to try and make some sweetcorn fritters in ages, so I went searching the net and combined a number of different recipes to come up with this one. I had them with a simple tomato, cucumber and pepper side salad and some sweet chili dipping sauce. You can easily double the recipe and I'm sure frozen corn would work just as well instead of the fresh.



Fresh Sweetcorn Fritters (serves 2)

60gr plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 pinch of salt
2tbsp milk
1 egg, beaten
1 cobs of corn, cooked and cooled
1/4 red pepper, chopped finely

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper and salt.

Add the milk and the egg and whisk until you get a smooth, thick batter.

Slice the corn kernels of the cobs and add them to the batter together with the red pepper, mix in well.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and place one heaped tablespoon in the pan for each fritter, pressing it down to spread the batter out a bit so it can cook evenly.

Fry until golden brown on both sides, place on some kitchen towel to soak up any extra oil when done and serve with your favourite dip.