Soup for the Soul

For me, soup is one of the most comforting foods in the winter. As soon as the leaves start to turn red, my vacuum flask comes out of the cupboard and I start trawling for quick simple recipes. I get really cold at work and soup keeps my cockles warm and my cheeks rosy, plus its cost effective to make in batches and a whole lots more imaginative and exciting then my packed lunches.

Here is the soup I am having today:

Jamie Oliver’s Spicy Parsnip Soup - Serves 4

Ingredients

Olive Oil
Knob of Butter
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
6 parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks
500ml milk
1 litre vegetable stock
Sa salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Optional: a handful of fresh coriander leaves
Crusty bread, to serve

Heat a splash of olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and garam masala. Gently fry for around 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and sweet.

Drop in the chopped parsnip and stir together so that everything gets coated in the oil and flavours. Pour in the milk and stock, season well and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on.

After half an hour, check that the parsnips are cooked by sticking a knife in. If you’re happy, remove them from the heat and carefully whiz up using a hand blender or liquidizer. Taste the soup to see if it needs a little more salt or pepper.

Serve with a sprinkling of sliced red chilli, a few coriander leaves if you like, and a good chunk of crusty bread.

Tip: Use coconut milk instead of regular milk for a twist.

Sarah

The Great British Food Fight

Channel 4 are bringing the Great British Food Fight back to our screens soon and the usual faces of Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are being joined by Heston Blumenthal.

The trailer this year doesn’t disappoint and is definitely worth a watch – it is one of my favourite adverts on TV at the moment, and I giggle at the end shot of Hugh every time.

Here is the trailer from last year for your amusement. A year on and several viewings later I still find it funny.

Sarah

Like Carrot Cake but with Butternut Squash Instead

A while ago, I made some Butternut Squash Muffins from Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie at Home’ book. To be honest, I was a little sceptical at first but I really need not have worried.

I absolutely love butternut squash and since my friend made me try it a few years ago, I have never looked back. They are great for storing as they last for months, and if you’re a good enough gardener to grow them, they will see you through the winter. However wonderful they are, it is easy to eat them the same way all the time. So, why not make them into something sweet.

As Jamie says:
My kids love these squash muffins. They taste a bit like carrot cake, as the two vegetables are very similar – I’ve simply swapped carrots for squash. Both of them are wonderful carriers of flavours like cinnamon, cloves and vanilla. The skin of a butternut squash goes deliciously chewy and soft when cooked, so there’s no need to peel it off. Give these little cakes a go – they’re a perfect naughty-but-nice treat. And a great way of getting your kids to eat squash!

Butternut Squash Muffins with a Frosty Top

Ingredients
400g butternut squash, skin on, deseeded and roughly chopped
350g light soft brown sugar
4 large free-range or organic eggs
sea salt
300g plain flour, unsifted
2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
a handful of walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
175ml extra virgin olive oil

for the frosted cream topping
zest of 1 clementine
zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½ a lemon
140ml soured cream
2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
optional: lavender flowers or rose petals
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line your muffin tins with paper cases.

Whiz the squash in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the sugar, and crack in the eggs. Add a pinch of salt, the flour, baking powder, walnuts, cinnamon and olive oil and whiz together until well beaten. You may need to pause the machine at some point to scrape the mix down the sides with a rubber spatula. Try not to overdo it with the mixing – you want to just combine everything and no more.

Fill the paper cases with the cake mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Check to see whether they are cooked properly by sticking a wooden skewer or a knife right into one of the cakes – if it comes out clean, they’re done. If it’s a bit sticky, pop them back into the oven for a little longer. Remove from the oven and leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack.

As soon as the muffins are in the oven, make your runny frosted topping. Place most of the clementine zest, all the lemon zest and the lemon juice in a bowl. Add the soured cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds and mix well. Taste and have a think about it – adjust the amount of lemon juice or icing sugar to balance the sweet and sour. Put into the fridge until your cakes have cooled down, then spoon the topping on to the cakes.

Serve on a lovely plate (or on a cake stand if you’re feeling elegant, or on a rustic slab if you’re more of a hunter-gatherer type!), with the rest of the clementine zest sprinkled over. For an interesting flavour and look, a few dried lavender flowers or rose petals are fantastic.

Enjoy!
Sarah