My halloween always involves carving a pumpkin. Cutting a lid &  scooping out some of the flesh and seeds , and carving a rough approxiamation of a scary face   and setting it in the window lit by a single tealight.

However being a food-obsessive my favorite thing finding new things to do with the leftover pumpkin in fact one of my first ever blog posts is about the Death of a Pumpkin
which features Pumpkin Risotto, Roast and a Laksa.

On Halloween  I made some Roasted Pumpkin Seeds . This is very simple just ensure you remove any strands of pumpkin from the seeds, spread them out on baking sheet sprinkle with just a little sea salt and smoked paprika . After just 15 minutes in  hot oven ( 190degC) they are delicious.

The next days the pumpkin lid was a little scorched so I discarded it but the rest of the pumpkin  was perfect for trying a  Saturday Kitchen there was a nice recipe for Sausage, Pumpkin and Sage Casserole . This is think would work with any squash , most of the ingredients we keep in the storecupboard and my sage plant is still clinging to life.

The only change I made to the recipe  adding  a dash of sherry which works well with pumpkin. I am cooking a lot with sherry sweeter than wine is seems to give a instant slow cooking taste to quicker dishes

After cooking the pumpkin and beans produce a thick stew they will definitely be a regular ,  think it would work well with chicken thighs too.

I am shattered , I try to get one day a week working from home to avoid the 2hours each way commute but it just didn’t happen this week. We have plenty of quick recipes but stir fry, chops etc and LBF is a brilliant cook but he works hard too and  sometimes you want something with layers and slow cooking.

Thankfully our overflowing freezer steps in when time is short, I feel desperately organised getting a lump of brown something or other out in the morning to find by the evening it has defrosted to reveal a  delicous stew

One night this week a  beef and ale stew revealed intself. Thankfully stew only seems to improve with age often  better the day after cooking . Here served poured over some sauteed kale, nuggets of barley soaked in meaty gravy,  it had me licking my lips and rolling my finger around the bowl.

Beef , Barley &  Ale Stew

400g of Beef Brisket chopped into cubes
3 medium carrots roughly chopped
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 large leek
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 bay leaf
500ml dark ale
1 pint of beef stock
Dash of worcesterhire sauce
Several handfuls of pear barley
2 bays leaves
1 sprig of rosemary
Salt and Pepper

1. Season the beef with salt and pepper
2. In a heavy botton casserole dish fry the beef in a little oil until brownn
3. Add the onion , garlic and carrots. Cook until beggining to soften
4. Pour in the ale , stock and barley
5. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the herbs and worcestershire sauce
6. Cover and place the stew into the oven at 160degC for two hours until the meat is tender.

This dish has it’s origins in my plan for a dinner of  tapas , but after a  busy week cooking a lot of little dishes had the potential to go horribly wrong and result in a lot of washing up  .So I scaled the dish back to one slow cook dish, throwing everything together and serving it with  plenty of freshly baked bread and wine.

The dish was lovely , heat from the chilli and paprika and a depth from the sherry. It might seem a little strange to use two types of beans but I like the different textures, but you could use potatoes as well.

We made some fresh foccacia from a recipe from the Domestic Goddess in Training

Pork, Chorizo & Bean Stew

200g pork shoulder cut into 1cm cubes
100g cooking chorizo cut into 1cm cubes
100g dried butter beans (soaked overnight)
100g dried chick peas (soaked overnight)
300g tinned tomatoes
1 large onion finely chopped
2  handfuls of stonned black olives
3 garlic cloves  finely chopped
1 tsp of dried chilli flakes
1 tsp of smoked paprika
Handful of chopped fresh parsley
1 pint of vegetable stock
Slosh of dry sherry

1. In a cast iron pot
2. Gently fry the garlic and onion with the spices and a little olive oil
3. Add the chorizo and pork shoulder to brown
4. Add the butter bean , chick peas , tomatoes , olives stock and sherry
5. Cover and place in the oven at 190decC for 1 hour.
6. Serve with fresh bread or rice

A couple of weekends ago I had to accept that Summer was over & that last of the tomatoes were never going to ripen. Green Tomatoes seem very popular in the US not so much here in the UK , however I ead  few recipes and since the chillis did ripen and I had some foraged apples , I decided to play around with a spicy green tomato chutney.

I would reccomend playing around with quantities of sugar and vinegar though this can effect how the chutney keeps . We started eating this straight away and I can reccomend it with  cheese and homemade oatcakes



Spicy Green Tomato Chutney

Makes one 500ml jar

2 tbsp of root ginger
2 cardamon pods – seeds only
2 large fresh red chillies
200g green tomatoes, chopped
100g of apples
50g of dates (finely chopped) or raisins
100g of onion chopped
Pinch of salt salt
25g of brown sugar
75ml  of malt vinegar

1. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan
2. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, and simmer until the desired consistency is reached, I like mine quite chunky
3. Pour into warmed sterilised jars,

I was a bit scared when LBF said that he was going to learn fly fishing ,it’s not that I am squeamish or have ethical objections . No it’s the gear… there is a lot of gear , rods , flies , stools tackle boxes even tents. . I once worked at an antique fishing tackle auction (Yes, they do exist) , people spent hundreds , even thousands of pounds on antique fishing flies and stuffed fish.

But LBF is no fool, he knows exactly how to get round me , “I will catch you a fish” , “Pff forget the macho posturing”. But he is no fool and delivered the one killer line,  “Think how bloggable that will be.”  I was sold I even packed him off fishing at stupid o’clock on a Saturday morning with roasted pork sandwiches.

True to his word on his first ever fishing trip he caught a 2lb rainbow trout, which I generously let him gut and cook. It was incredibly delicate tasting and pale white flesh rather than the luminous pink I am used to.

We cooked it simple wrapping the fish in foil with a scattering of fresh leeks , fresh lemon , sprigs of fresh thyme , butter and a twist of salt and pepper.

Last weekend we went apple picking . A patch by the railwayside amongst all the scrub land there are many abandoned  apple trees. I wonder if this was an orchard once because there are a lot of varieties from dark red to pale yellow now the area  is almost inaccessible and forgotten with the fruit groaning on the trees and falling to the ground.

Britain has more than 3000 varieties of native apples however data from Natural England showed orchards in  England have declined by 63% since 1950. In 2007  imported nearly 70% of our apples (Defra Basic Horticultural Statistics 2008).

However more and more community Orchards are being created up and down the country, more people are planting fruit trees in their gardens, micro cider-makers are flourishing, old traditional orchards are being valued and conserved by Natural England and others for the richness of wild life they support and thousands visit Apple Day events.

We picked a few kilos but I have needed to put in some time to make them into something nice  so a few recipes.

This tart is an homage to those beautiful french tart aux pommes , I had to leave the skins on because they were just too pretty , it takes time to layer them onto the pastry but it is quite meditative, you cannot eat just one slice perfect with a little whipped double cream .

Apple Tart

An apple tart

400g of apples ( half peeled & half skin on
100g of plain flour
50g of butter
20ml of water

1. Grease a 30cm fluted tart case
2. Preheat the oven to 190degC
3. Take the peeled apples add the cinamon , sugar and pour over the water
4. Cover & simmer until the apples have complete softened to form a puree
5. Meanwhile crumb togehter the butter and flour
6. Add the water to form a pastry and chill in the fridge for 20 mins
7. Finely slice the apples and place in water with a little lemon juice
8. Roll out and line the tart case
9. Line with greaseproof paper and lentils or baking beads
10. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes
11. Fill with the apple puree and lay over the sliced apple, bake for a further 30minutes

I adore apple crumble it is a taste of childhood and so simple to make I think everyone makes it in school cooking classes, it suit small hands to crumble the butter into the flour . But the taste of toasted crumble topping with sweet/sour fruit is divine espeically with some melting vanilla ice cream. So delicious I am wondering if I can justify it as a breakfast dish.

Apple Crumble

200g of apples peeled cored and roughly chopped
4tbsp of sugar
5 tbsp of water
1 tsp of cinamon

Crumble

25g of butter
50g of demara sugar
100g of flour
100g of rolled oats

1. Heat the oven to 180degC
2. Mix the apples with the water sugar and cinamon and place in an overproofdish
3. Crumb together the butter and flour
4. Mix in the oats and sugar
5. Cover the apples and place in the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown.

I even used them with a pork joint rubbed with fennel seeds and roasted with quartered apples that form an uncutous apple caramel sauce , delicious with the pork in sandwiches.

Years ago living in Canada I would often go for DimSum when I had a hangover while I love dumplings my favouties were often slightly unidentifiable sticky pieces of bone in spicy sauces. Somehow I have a cold again so I wanted something that would cut through my tastebuds

The market always has piles of oxtails which I thought would be perfect , a quick trip to the Chinese supermarket to stock up on ingredients I managed to lose an hour in there so many lovely things.

You need to make some fluffy  rice and to go with the delicious sticky sticky juice, my perfect tip for cooking rice. Just cover the rice with cold water and bring to the boil , then leave for 10 minutes

I think this dish is best eaten with your fingers plenty of chewing and slurping ,perfect as those autumn days.

Braised Oxtail

Serves 2
4 oxtails
5tbps of thick soy sauce
3 tbsp of rice wine
4 tbsp of rice wine vinegar
1 pint of beef stock
1 tsp of fermented soy beans
2 star anise
2 red birds eye chilli
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
Juice and Zest of a satsuma
1 thumb of ginger cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp of ground nut oil

1. Heat the oil in a pan and sear the oxtail on all sides
2. Add the garlic ,ginger, chilli, star anise heat in the oil for a minute or two
3. Add the liquids and satsuma juice and zest and cover
4. Place in the oven at 150degC for two hours
5. Serve with rice

This roasted chicken recipe recipe is slightly adapted from Casa Moro, I think any combination of hot spices with the preserved lemon  makes a delicious
roast . Leaving  the chicken to rest after roasting means you can use
the combined chicken and roasted lemon/spices to make a tart gravy with crunchy bits of roasted spices.

Preserved lemons are one of my favourite ingredients , delicious with meat, fish & in salad and one of those wonderful things to make yourself. It takes only a few minutes and a lot of salt . I keep a jar in the fridge

Moro Roast Chicken with Preserved Lemon
1 medium sized chicken
1 whole preserved lemon
1 tbsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of chilli flakes
1 tbsp of coriander seeds
1 tbsp of olive oil

1. Food process together the lemon,  cumin ,coriander , chilli flakes and oil to form a marinade.
2. Rub the chicken with the marinade.
3. Leave overnight.
4. Roast at 190degC for 1.5 hours
5. Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes

I adore squash not only do they taste amazing they are beautiful to look at  grow brilliantly even in the British climate but .Watching our little pumpkin grow has been heaven as it stretched it’s little tendrils across the vegepatch.

The plant came from LBF’s parents who always grow a lot of squash . That being said this was the only little Pumpkin that grew well this year,  lots of squashes rotted on the vine.

Pumpkin loves spice so looking around the internet quite a few chillis came up with mostly pork and beef .  Fortunately we had a rolled Brisket of Lincolnshire Red Beef from the East Midlands Food Festival.  One of the oldest of the UK’s native beef breeds with a deep cherry-red coat, it is  fine marbled meat renowned for its texture and quality.

I kept the meat and the pumpkin large for a slow cook,  it smelt exquisite sweet and spicy definitely one of those dishes you could cook the night before and re-heat. The meat was falling  apart tasty and the pumpkin had just held its shape but still  melt in the mouth.  I might have to go beg a few squash from those with a glut to make this again

This recipe is an adaptation of a few I found around the internet

Beef and Pumpkin Chilli

300g of beef brisket cut into 1inch chunks
4 dried red chillis
300g of tinned tomatoes
500g of pumpkin/butternut squash , remove the skin and cut into 1inch chunks
1 bottle of lager ( 500ml )
100ml of beef stock
1 medium onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of ground coriander
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp of hot chilli powder
2 tbsp of sunflower oil

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175 deg C.
2. Rub the beef in the spices .
3. Heat the oil in a large cast iron dish , fry the onions  garlic and chilli.
4. Add the beef and fry until brown.
5. Add the tomatoes, pumpkin , stock and  lager.
6. Cover and place in the oven for at least two hours.

Serve with rice or bread

Last night as we were tucking into dinner my lovely boyfreind said outloud “Sometimes I worry that everyone will find out how delicious liver is and it will get really expensive.” Probably the reason I love him is I knew exactly what he meant and felt the same way. A good piece of liver is like filet steak fine textured tasty and it looks beautiful.

I like to have it simply fried ( though we tried BBQ a few months back and that was lovely ) Though liver and bacon is classic British cooking I love it with chorizo the salty spiceness it’s a Spanish touch especially if you add some sherry to degalze the pan.

I like it with some peppery salad leaves rocket or watercress and crusty bread.

Lambs Liver with Chorizo Mushrooms and Onions

300g of lambs liver sliced to ensure it is no more than 1/2 cm thick
100g of cooking chorizo
100g of mushrooms
1 medium onion finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic sliced
2 tbsp of olive oil
100ml of fino sherry
Fresh parsley

1. Fry the onions and garlic til soft in oil
2. Add the cooking chorizo.
3. Finally add the mushrooms and sherry and cooked til reduced.
4. In a separate pan heat a little butter and fry the liver for just a two minutes on each side it should stay pink in the middle