Butternut Squash Soup

Having developed an unhealthy obsession with junk food in the build up to deadlines it was time to cut back on the rubbish and fill myself with something that doesn't contain enough calories to feed a whole family for a week. This vegetable soup is a great balance of flavours and for me a little taste of home, as it is one of my Dad's signature dishes.

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 parsnip
1 red chilli
1 large onion
3 large tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
Mixed herbs
Calorie controlled cooking spray
1litre vegetable stock

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200oC/ Gas mark 4.5
2. Peel and de-seed the butternut squash, chop into bite sized pieces along with the parsnip
3. Chop the onion and tomatoes into quarters
4. Finely dice the chilli and put in a roasting tray with the rest of the vegetables
5. Peel the garlic and leave whole, put with the vegetables
6. Spray all the vegetables with cooking spray and sprinkle with herbs
7. Bake for 40 minutes, turning frequently to ensure even cooking
8. Place all of the vegetables in a large bowl, slowly add the stock, blitzing with a hand blender until you have the required consistency.

For best results serve it just like my Dad does, piping hot with crusty bread and a good film on a Sunday afternoon with your best friend.

Almond Milk

A fellow blogger friend of mine Kieran has recently turned Vegan with his girlfriend, because of this regular cows milk is no longer a 'done' thing for them these days. As an alternative they both drink almond milk which is just as easy and available to buy in the supermarket as cows milk.

The health benefits of almond milk seem to be endless. It has no cholesterol and is said to improve eyesight, skin, bone strength as well as being blood sugar friendly due to its low sugar levels, making it ideal for diabetics.

 Because of these health benefits I was dying to try some. So myself, Kieran and his girlfriend, Mary decided to give making our own almond milk a go. Before you imagine us trying to squeeze milk out of individual almonds please know that this recipe is so simple and involves no cooking, no effort what so ever and was actually a lot of fun. 

Makes 1.5 Pints

Ingredients

300g almonds

1.5 pint water

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Method

Kieran and Mary with our makeshift muslin

1. Place the almonds in a large container and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for a minimum of 6 hours, ideally overnight
2. Once the almonds have been soaked drain away the excess water and rinse thoroughly
3. Place the almonds in a blender along with the water and maple syrup
4. Blend on a high speed for a minimum of two minutes until no large pieces of almond remain
5. Put the mixture through a piece of muslin (we didn't have any so we improvised with a pair of tights- I would like to add they were new!) into a jug or bottle
6. Refrigerate and serve. 

Salad Nicoise

Before Christmas I took part in a 6 week cookery course in training for a ‘Masterchef’ competition between my university, Sheffield Hallam and our rival, the University of Sheffield.

The course was funded by the Sheffield on a Plate project, a project set up to teach students like myself the importance of cooking good food using quality ingredients from in and around Sheffield.

My university won and in a few weeks I will be doing my prize, a days work experience at Fischer’s at Baslow Hall, a Michelin starred restaurant.

Excited doesn’t come close to explaining how much I am looking forward to it. A post will come about all of my experiences on the day!

Before that I thought I would share a recipe I learnt while on the course. A delicious and quick Salad Nicoise, which is always a hit with my friends.

4 Servings

Ingredients

• 160g anchovies
• 200g tuna chunks
• 400g green beans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 300g cherry tomatoes
• 30g basil
• 3 shallots
• 300g new potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 25g capers
• 25g gherkins
• 50g pitted black olives
• 30g french mustard
• 200ml olive oil
• Pinch of sugar
• 50ml white wine vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

1. Top and tail green beans and place in boiling salted water and cook for around 5 minutes until tender, drain and then plunge into ice water, remove and leave to one side
2. In another pan add the potatoes and boil until they fall off the point of a knife. Drain, cut into quarters and place in a bowl.
3. Halve the tomatoes, slice up the shallots thinly and chop the basil add to the bowl with the potatoes
4. Chop up the gherkins, add to bowl along with the olives, capers and green beans
5. Crush the garlic until it resembles a puree and mix into the bowl
6. Drain the tuna from the brine and add along with the anchovies and their oil and mix in
7. Hard boil the eggs for 8-10 minutes, remove shell and slice, set aside for decoration at the end.
8. To make the dressing put all of the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk, pour over the salad and serve.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Going vegetarian is something I try to do at least once a week, not only because I have turned a little bit health conscious but because it really is amazing the amount of things that you can do with the humble vegetable. This recipe is quick and easy to make and is also a winner for all calorie counters.

 

2 servings

Ingredients

• Calorie controlled cooking spray

• 4 large mushrooms

• 1 onion

• 1 garlic clove

• 1 lemon

• Small bunch of fresh thyme

• 3 courgettes

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 100g spinach

• 100g quark

• 1 spring onion

• 50 ml water

• 1 sweet potato

• 1 aubergine

• 1 red pepper

• 150g brown rice

Method      

1.    Preheat oven to 180c/Gas mark 4

2.    Chop the sweet potato, aubergine, red pepper and one of the courgettes into bite sized pieces. Spray with calorie controlled cooking spray and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. turning half way through

3.    Cook rice by packet instructions (normally boil for around 20-30 minutes)

4.    Chop the onion and crush the garlic and add these to a large frying pan and fry with cooking spray until softened

5.    Zest the lemon and dice the remaining courgettes. Add to the frying pan with thyme leaves, soy sauce and spinach. Remove from the heat

6.    Thinly slice the spring onion and mix in with the quark. Add to the frying pan

7.    Spoon this mixture into the mushrooms and place in a roasting tray. Pour the water into the tray and bake for 15 minutes, until the filling is golden.

 

Snow Brownies

This recipe all began when a close friend of mine asked me to bake him a birthday cake, I love baking cakes but this was to serve a lot of people so wanted something that could be cooked on mass and could be divvied up easily. These brownies are so easy to make and should probabaly come with a health warning but believe me they taste amazing and are definitely a crowd pleaser.

16 Servings

Ingredients

• 375g dark chocolate
• 300g white chocolate
• 375g unsalted butter
• 350g sugar
• 225g plain flour
• 6 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180c/Gas mark 4
2. Line a 33cm X 23cm brownie tin with greaseproof paper and set aside
3. Break up the dark chocolate and melt together with the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat stirring regularly
4. In a large bowl mix togther the sugar, vanilla and eggs
5. When the chocolate mixture has cooled down beat in the sugar mix
6. Combine the salt with the flour and carefully mix into the chocolate
7. Break up the white chocolate into small chunks and fold into the mixture and transfer into the tin
8. Bake for around 25 minutes. When the top is dried and pale brown the brownies are ready, they will continue to cook when removed from the oven so do not cut up until completely cooled.