Lightly spiced carrot cake with cream cheese topping
Continue reading “LIGHTLY SPICED CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE TOPPING”
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Lightly spiced carrot cake with cream cheese topping
Continue reading “LIGHTLY SPICED CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE TOPPING”
Autumn winds are making the delicious plums fall from my tree and I’m picking them up as fast as possible as they rain down on my head. Apart from being delicious, I love the idea of ‘free’ food and, even better, free food from my own garden. For me, Victoria plums have the best flavour and are perfect for this Fruity Plum Crumble
Plum crumble has to be the ultimate comfort food and certainly a dish to illicit some guaranteed ‘ooohs and aaahs’ when it is brought to the table. Perhaps this is because the fruit season is short and serving this once or twice a year pudding, signals the changing of the year. Actually, mine isn’t a once a year treat as my freezer is now full of all the plums I couldn’t use -even after making spicy plum chutney & gifting some to friends etc there are lots left! I have either put the prepared plums (stone and halved) straight into freezer bags or cooked and pureed into boxes. My plan is to use the puree to make into a Christmas ice cream possibly with a little brandy or port and crumbled amaretto biscuits.
If you have a tree or know someone who has one, you will need to get a wriggle on and get them picked. Even better you could consider planting your own tree to guarantee your supply for years to come. They are trouble free and have pretty blossom in the spring.
Try this lovely pud
PLUM CRUMBLE
Spicy pumpkin soup with chilli croutons topped with crispy onions is perfect for Halloween, Bonfire night or any other wintery cold night -it will warm the cockles of your heart! Serve it up with a hot toddy of cider, orange juice, rum, sugar and a little freshly grated nutmeg-delicious
I loved Halloween as a child despite being completely terrified. I anxiously peered around every corner expecting witches & ghosts (or worse) to appear. I used to try walking backwards to keep a look out but it never really worked out. My heart rate has just gone up just remembering about the spooky parties we used to have and…………I’m still frightened of the dark!
The bright orange pumpkin was the centrepiece so I have used the flesh to make this creamy, silky soup. You can make it as spicy hot as you like or just omit the chilli. I have also added red lentils to make it more nutritious so you could serve it as part of a meal for those that prefer not to eat meat . The homemade croutons make all the difference and I make them a lot with all sorts of soups. Once you have tried homemade ones you will never break a tooth again on the hard, oily ones you can buy. You can leave the chilli out if you wish and just have them cheesy. I make various sorts of croutons depending on the sort of soup I make flavouring them with eg ground coriander, garlic or fennel seeds -just partner them with some sort of strong cheese. Frizzled onions too are a delicious topping-I’m never keen on bought caramelized onions as they are usually too sweet but these are lovely.
I have to admit it is an enormous fiddle to serve the soup in a pumpkin but it looked great in the photo and I have always wanted to try it! If you want to do that you really need a second pumpkin so that you can carve it out more carefully. Make sure that you leave thicker sides to make it more sturdy.
There is something very satisfying about making homemade soup so have a go at this seasonal favourite and don’t turn your back for too long…….
SPICED PUMPKIN SOUP WITH CHILLI CROUTONS AND FRIZZLED ONIONS
It’s a blustery day in Cumbria not quite cold yet but with a definite feel and smell of Autumn in the air and the promise of approaching winter. I say promise because I like the feel of Autumn still sunny and sometimes warm but with rustling falling leaves and the garden slowly turning to orange and gold. I like the Winter as well but it has to be a proper one with frosty mornings and proper snow, only at the weekends, so I don’t have to drive in it. I’ve got out my warm coat, scarves and gloves so I’m ready for anything. I’m looking forward to lighting the fire for the first time and looking forward to some cosy nights in with my favourite people.
This mince and dumplings is comfort food at it’s best everyone I have spoken to about this have said……………………..Oh.oooooo I love them. But most have never made them possibly because they are not sure how to and don’t realise how easy it is. For my generation they remind us of childhood and for me of school dinners. Yes school dinners!! Maybe there is a touch of rose tinted memories here but we certainly had some memorable ones such as mince and mash, chocolate sponge with green peppermint custard (sounds absurd but we loved it), Apple pie with grated cheese-again rather odd but I was always told it was a ‘Yorkshire thing’. I think even at my tender years I thought that even odder because the cheese was always white, grated Lancashire cheese! Maybe this was some historical culinary attempt at reconciliation between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Mince and dumplings was also on the menu probably because it was relatively cheap to make and filling for all us growing girls…………………..
This is my version which lives up to that memory when I suppose the recipe was very much the same. It’s childs play to make and can be cooked from start to finish in about an hour and for most of the time it will cook merrily by itself. So you just have time to pull those curtains, light the fire and pull on that baggy old cardi you only keep for winter (shapeless and quite probably bobbly-I know you have one) and cosy up for the night………………………..
MINCE AND DUMPLINGS
Serves 4/5
For the mince:
A little vegetable oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
800g beef mince meat
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
About 165g turnip, peeled and diced
2 beef stock cubes
750ml water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dumplings:
250g self-raising flour
½ teasp salt
100g shredded suet e.g. Atora
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped or 1 teasp dried parsley or mixed herbs
About 8 tbsp. of water.
CATEGORIESMAINS
These sticky pork Boston Baked Beans are just the ticket for Bonfire night.
I love it when the nights start to cut in and there is the lovely sweet smell of autumn in the air. I can’t wait to get the log fire going and look forward to cosy evenings. I have always loved Halloween and Bonfire night -maybe because my mother always made an effort to celebrate them and I have never forgotten about them. Halloween involved dressing up and anxiously searching the sky for witches and Bonfire night was always at home with a bonfire in the garden and my mums food. My ‘food memories’ are still clear in my mind; almost impossible to eat toffee apples, homemade tomato soup in a mug, sticky parkin (well, I am from Yorkshire), sausages and jacket potatoes cooked in the fire. I think I recall even doing this the day after bonfire night, the embers were so hot! I thought it the most exciting night of the year. I think I may have blocked out all the rainy nights when we couldn’t do them but I do recall tears… Organised firework displays have never done anything for me at all -perhaps because the food was as important as the fireworks.
These Boston Baked Beans are the sort of thing I would cook nowadays for either a Halloween or Bonfire party but my recipe is perfect for comfort eating at any time. So batten down the hatches and give it a go. This dish won’t spoil if it is left and it’s even better the next day.
BOSTON BAKED BEANS