Stuffed Butternut Squash – Kick Autumn Meal

This was a recipe to use up leftover mushrooms , but it could be stuffed with anything really

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Wild Mushrooms

• 1 butternut squash
• stilton to sprinkle over

For the stuffing

• Mix of wild mushrooms – funnel caps , clouded agaric ,blewitts hedgehog (Hedghog) fungus)
• you could also add bacon or pancetta if you cannot cope without meat
• Red Onion
• Walnuts
• Honey
• Red Wine
• Herbs – anything really rosemary thyme sage

1. Heat oven to 200 deg
2. Chop tall the stuffing ingredients and mix together place in a casserole dish with a slosh of red wine and honey
3. Cut a butternut squash in half and popped it in the oven with the casserole dish of stuffing
4. after 45 minutes remove the squash and casserole ,scraped insides of squash out and mixed with casserole contents
5. Fill squash halves with mixture sprinkle stilton cheese over halfs …… return to oven for 10 minutes…………..

Enjoyable with lovely salad….. or have as addition to a roasted joint which could be cooked in the same oven

Blewits – Pie, Soup & Salad

Blewitts are just that “Its …. that are um blue….” in the case of the wood blewitts the underside the gills give off a beautiful lilac hue

For the field Blewitts their stems are stained with what looks like blue biro, so they are sometimes called Blue Leg

Gathered together their similarity is pretty obvious

When cooked they have a more gelatinous texture than most field mushrooms ..which you can probably guess by their firm almost soapy texture …the taste however is that thrilling rushing wild mushrooms taste….. its tempting just to fry up a plate in butter and eat on toast …or wilted spinach

But you can pop them in a pie …..

Blewitt Pie Thinly slice blewitts mix with olive oil garlic red onion slices , wholegrain mustard and a slosh of white wine . Lay in dish . Cover with puff pastry and bake at 220 for 15 minutes

Blewitt and Fennel Soup

Blewits fried in with a little garlic and some fresh fennel leaves. liquidize and add milk/cream to consistency

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Blewit , Walnut and Spinach Salad

Blewits cooked with garlic , oil salt and pepper . Served on spinach leaves with toasted walnuts , parmesan shaving and drizzle with balsamic vinegar blogged

Enjoy

And I would love to hear your recipes

Risky Eating – Clouded Agaric

…… Clouded Agaric ( clitocybe nebularis) causes allergic reactions in some people but the tonnes growing in the woods this autumn and on the advice of the guy running my fungi class meant that I decided to take a chance. This week ate a small amount and having no reaction after 24hours cooked up a lot of fungus.

Really really tasty strong flavour there is still a lot growing in the woods. Extreme eating maybe but he also had us sampling Yew Berries which are ebible if you spit out the seeds… it goes against everything I had ever believed …

Autumn is here

The autumn colour change has been delayed by unusually warm weather but it seems to be here

This Sunday in the woods the beech leaves had turned yellow and were floating down the forest it looked like an amazing cathedral as the stress flowed out my body walking through the woods kicking leaves and picking fungi the Faithless song God is a DJ was flowing through my head ….This is my church…this is where I heal my hurt…..

This was my Sunday service ….. 6 hours in the woods……smiley smiley happy Beck

Spaghetti and the Archers

Ran home from evening class to hit listen again and snuggled down with Peppermint Tea ….. screamed at the radio for 15 minutes… but Ruth did not sleep with Sam ( phew I can breathe out again ..) …vaguely considered calling my mum but it was like 10.30pm … even considered the Messageboards but have long avoided for fear they could prove addictive . Archers addicition what you gonna do its genetic

In case you are not similarly addicted a lead character was on her way to commit adultery the scene switched between her driving ( interupted by calls for an assignation at an hotel from her potential lover ) and scenes of domestic bliss as the hubby and kids made spagehetti..

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It made me want spaghetti so tonight made a big pot………….

Archers Spaghetti Sauce

• 400g Beef Mince
• 2 large red onions roughly chopped
• a box of mushrooms roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 tins of tomatoes
• 2tsp mixed herbs
• 2 tbsp of sub dried tomatoes chopped
• half a bottle of red wine

1. Fry off mince with onions , garlic, mushrooms
2. Add tomatoes , dried herbs ,salt, pepper olives chopped sun dried tomatoes
3. add the wine. allow to simmer for at least 45 minutes

I have been making pasta sauce like this since I was 12 years old….. and I still like it the same way with grated cheddar cheese…. I don’t care that it not traditional and I am sure Italians be disgusted as they would with the recipe but for me its all about being able to cook a whole meal for your family …….

A rant against forgetting lunch – Ratatouille Soup & Salad

against horrible sandwiches from the shops ( even the gourmet ones seems to taste of nothing …how do they do that… they always taste “cold” ) . So its nice being home a lunchtime and making my own food

So in the flat there is currently a big pot of ratatouille on the stove……. for eating with crusty bread

Ratatouile

Aubgergine , Courgette , Garlic , Red Onion , Mushrooms roughly choped mixed with tinned plum tomatoes and mixed herbs , red wine if available , olives too Simmer for 45minutes leave in pot on the stove to heat as required

I find lots of warming and tasty vegeatables soups are…vital to get through the vegebox mound

Paprika Cauliflower Soup this was to have been a a pumpkin soup ( with leftovers from the lantern) but noticed some cauliflower about to go bad. Sauteed cauliflower with roasted garlic and smoked paprika . Add a splash of boling water and simmer til the cauliflower is soft ( overcooked). Add a splash of milk and puree… Really delicious and creamy

Leek and Apple Soup -Chop one large leek and one large apple per person. sweat in a pan with butter salt and pepper add half a cup of hot water per person. Puree return to pan and stir in a little more hot water and crumble in some stilton …warm through ….

Brocooli and Stilton Cook broccoli til tender in pan with water drain and pour over milk liquidise and return to pan crumble in stilton ( you only need a little cos its very flavoursome when heated) and warm gently … Add a little salt and pepper to taste serve

In the summer delicious salads get me through ………

Greek Salad Many years ago I went to Crete with my mum and brother a tragic teenager rebellion I was vegetarian ( its lasted 10 years ) which meant over the course of 2 weeks. I ate close to 30 of these babies in various places bcame a connosiur and perfected a recipe- . its not classy but its tastes so good. Chop iceberg lettuce and cucumber stick in bowl slice tomatoes and onions ( red are pretty but who cares really ) throw over some feta cheese, olives capers , mixed herbs and lots of black pepper and dowse with oilve oil and white wine vinegar . its so good to eat cos you have to stir it a lot to get all bits coated in in dressing a small pieces of feta & at the end you have to mop with some bread all round the bowl .

Artichoke , Asparagus and Feta Salad dressed with lemon , oil and pepper

Roast Squash with Feta and Rocket dressed with mustard and balasamic vinegar

Baked Aubergine Preserved Lemon Lemon and Goats Cheese Salad

Occasionally I am forced to take sandwiches I have to make them as colourful as possible “Feeding the eyes” as the lovely Fanny Craddock would put it

Mushroom and Chestnut Tart

Wild Mushroom and Chestnut Tart

The mushrooms asre funnel caps and wood mushrooms sliced and mixed with roasted chestnuts . Laid on rolled puff pastry , drizzled over with egg and a little milk and baked at 220deg for 20 minuntes.

Its terrifying when you suddenly realise how like one of your parents you might become…………..

I have always known my cooking confidence came from my mother, a woman who will ably cook a massive range of dishes all at the same time. I never knew what a ready-meal was growing up but I did no how to make tomato pasta sauce , that it was a treat to be allowed to make roux sauce m that leftover was not a dirty word but an opportunity…. From my mum I have my photographic knowledge of my fridge the myriad of food combinations buzz through my minds like database relationships … combining with the related herbs and spices..

From my dad I got the ability to develop a weird rapid all comsuming obssession with things … in order of development for him …. books…..model trains, caving ,bookbinding,stamps…. fungi ,kites … I can only imagine what would have happened if ebay had been around while he was alive .. as it is I blame him for my “Skipping devotion” ….. ( this week whiteboard and coathangers galore… from office re-development )

Most of my dads obsessions rubbed off at some point but clearly fungi is the one that is taking hold ( see my photostream … combining so well as it does with my mums cooking ability……. perfect genetic combination)
So I have signed up for classes with expert mycologist ( fungi guy) … though I have led a few walking fungi groups it is always with the cavaeat I have no idea what I am talking about and am merely giving you some good locations and walking directions (…and mostly cos I have been bullied into it )
Though mainly classroom based ( getting the ” science bit ” into my head always appeals ) learning to idenfity by official colour charts ( see below ) and learn terms like adnexed adnate sinaute , umbo, papilla………………

Its also nice learning with others

sharing the different things you have found … in this case many hands and eyes make very light work of a forest floor in just a few hours

I deliberately picked plenty of things I never do usually …. they scream inedible …. only to discover they are most tasty and I should have been grabbing them years ago

I am heading back to the collecting area tommorrow and firmly expect to bump into most of the group

Death of a Pumpkin

Roasted Pumpkin Wedges

• Firstly when carving your pumpkin do not throw away the seeds , clean off the pulp and save the eeds
• Once you are done with your pumpkin
• cut it into slices and place on baking tray
• sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds , drizzle with oil, chopped dried chillis, cumin& rock salt and roast for 30 mins at 200degC#

This works for all squash, the seeds can be removed for snacking these wedges are good as shown here with Chilli Jam (recipe below) or creme fraiche mixed with roasted garlic

Chilli Jam

• Take 3 large fresh tomatoes cut into chunks
• mix with one teaspoon of chopped dried chillis
• 5 tsp of sugar and a glug of balsamic vinegar .
• Simmer in a pan til jammy )
• …or with creme fraiche mixed with roasted Garlic

The wedges can also be used in the following recipes

Pumpkin Laksa

Pumpkin Laksa – enough for two

50g of Dried Noodles
100g of roasted pumpkin ( or steam some fresh until soft) chopped into chunks
1 Fresh Red Chilli
Handful of fresh coriander
Handful of fresh mint
2 cloves of garlic
2tbsp of sunflower oil
a cup of coconut milk
1 tsp of fish sauce
Fresh lime juice

1. Pour boiling water over dried egg noodles, just to cover the noodles and leave in bowl .
2. In the food processor make a paste from the chilli, ginger coriander ( leaves and roots) , garlic, oil in the food processor ( this paste will store up to a week in the fridge or freeze in ice cube trays …I do this with coconut milk too )
3. Fry the pumpkin in the paste inhaling deeply
4. Add the coconut milk & pour in the noodles including the water , and dash of fish sauce .
5. Simmer gently for two minutes.
6. To serve add extra coriander leaves and a squirt of lime

Pumpkin Risotto

or in a risotto this is a Squash and Mushroom Risotto but you can skip the mushrooms recipe available on my previous post – Hedgehog Fungus Risotto