rose petal jam

the witching hour is upon us...

Look at this wee chap! isn't he lovely? Admittedly not very scary but that was the brief given to Dominic, a pumpkin that I could smile with! Unfortunately we have no windowsill deep enough to display him in, so he sits, smiling away at me from the hearth. Aww!

And not to let his insides go to waste (heaven forbid), here is a lovely autumn soup, with a bit of a kick...

Pumpkin, Sage, Pancetta and Chilli soup

Ok, I know, too much sage and pancetta recently! But I LOVE the combination, so really I am not making any apology for it. And I'll stop soon I promise :-) And if you are with me on this one, please check out the latest entry from the gorgeous Cherry Menlove

Serves 4

The inside of a medium pumpkin, diced
a red onion, chopped
15 (or so!) sage leaves
1/2 tsp chillli flakes
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
3 slices of pancetta, snipped up into smallish strips

Fry off over a gentle heat the pancetta, onion, sage, chilli and garlic in some olive oil for about 5 mins untl soften and frangrant.

Add the pumpkin and cook over a slow heat for about 2-3 mins.

Add the stock, bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 mins.

Blitz with a hand blender until smooth but with some texture.

Serve with a smile.

small beauties

Note: the title of this entry is stolen from the very lovely and sadly departed Julia Darling Read her poem of the same title via this link.

Just look at them!! I should have put this post up weeks ago as that is when the berries were picked, but it just never happened. I wondered whether it was now past bramble season and I shouldn't blog this, but the bushes on the country walk path at the weekend said no, so here we go.

Blackberries, or brambles are a childhood thing for me. We used to go along the banks of the Leeds - Liverpool canal, carrying empty margarine tubs and collecting as many of these as possible. God the scratches we used to get! By the end of the afternoon we all looked like we had had a cat fight with a vicious moggy! Also, our lips and hands were stained purple as I think Helen and I ate as many as made it into the tubs.

Afterwards they were transformed into jam, puddings and even wine (strictly for the grown ups though!).

And in honour of all of this I created a new and unbelievably easy pud, which would even cut the mustard at a casual dinner party I reckon.

Bramble and Ginger Mess

ok, so it's not even a recipe!!

Put together brambles, creme fraiche and smashed up ginger biscuits and serve in pretty/ attractive glasses. I used Tescos organic ginger biccies which are very oaty so it gives a nice wholesome edge to the dessert. If your berries are very tart, as they can be, then sprinkle them with sugar about 5 mins before combining with the rest. Ooh! and a slug of ginger wine at this point also adds a lovely booziness to the proceedings. It's just lovely and takes 2 mins to assemble and serve and as you can see looks very sweet.

flavours of autumn

I love autumn and everything about it. The colours, smells, that snappiness in the air, the strong sunshine followed by the weaker, watery kind of late afternoon, the mist in the mornings, the return of porridge (more later) ah…was there ever a better season than autumn? It’s rich and abundant and there is so much that is yummy in the produce of the season. It’s a time for cosy food, eaten by candlelight as the rain lashed down or the fog rolls in.

There’s no need to let healthy eating go completely out of the window, but it is the season to indulge in hearty food, soul food that takes the chill from your bones and gives you the strength and fortitude to face dark early mornings, commuting in the wind and rain and the start of Christmas shopping (first present bought yesterday – Helen, you are a lucky girl!)

So, what did I make for dinner last night? Well, I am having a love affair with sage right now, it’s the very essence of cold weather cooking for me and I think would be my dessert island herb. I love the robust, aromatic flavour and the way that it stands up to fierce temperatures and even crisps up for a deeper, more mellow flavour. So here we have it.

Pork and squash tray roast with pancetta and sage.

Serves two

Two pork chops or loin steaks
6 slices of pancetta
16 sage leaves
half a medium butternut squash, chopped into inch cubes
a red onion, cut lengthways into 8 chunks
8 garlic cloves, still in their papery skin
some olive oil
salt and pepper
splash of dry sherry
100ml chicken stock

pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Take your pork and put 4 leaves of sage on one side of each. Lay the pancetta over, holding the sage to the meat and then flip over in your hands, add 4 more leaves of sage and wrap the pancetta round. The pancetta gives a rich saltiness to the dish and really perks up the soft pork flavour. Place in a strong roasting tin, crossed pancetta side down. Add the squash, garlic and red onion to the tray, placing around the meat. Drizzle the veg with olive oil and season the whole thing with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for about 40 mins or until the veg is soft and the pork is cooked. It’s nice if you manage to get some crisp edges to your veg but depending on how much juice comes out of the pork and the squash this isn’t always possible and isn’t necessary.

Take the vegetables and pork out of the tin, put on a plate and keep warm back in the oven. You should have the juices, the garlic and oil still in the roasting tin. Squash the garlic so the roasted cloves pop out of their skins. Pick the skins out with fingers. Lick fingers. Put the tray over the heat on your stove top. Add the stock and the sherry (about 50mls will do) and simmer. The sauce will become syrupy very quickly. Remove from heat.

Arrange the meat and veg on warmed plates and pour over the gravy. Serve with mulled red cabbage. Eat at the table, by candlelight, with no TV. Have a conversation about autumn flavours and get planning your next meal!

What is your favourite autumn meal?

red is the colour

Red cabbage is a favourite of ours. I cannot imagine Christmas dinner without it; it looks so beautiful on the plate and really takes the festive flavours such as cinnamon and cloves to its heart. Often I cook it in red wine, but I know lots of people (my mum included) aren’t keen on food cooked in wine, so it is just as lovely cooked in apple juice (the cloudy kind is more softly apple-ish I find, the clear is a bit sharp).

It’s hard to see how such few and humble ingredients can make something so delicious that Dominic reckons he could just eat it on it’s own, but it does.

Mulled Red Cabbage

Makes enough for 4

A medium sized red cabbage
Enough apple juice to almost cover – about 500ml should do
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon of muscavado sugar

Put everything into a large pan. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered for about 1-1/2 hours until the cabbage is tender and most of the liquid has reduced away. C’est tout! Amazingly easy. If you like, and can find them, pick out the cloves and cinnamon before eating. As this makes enough for four and there are just two of us, we freeze some...

it freezes really well and there is nothing nicer than knowing that there is a little batch of it, waiting in the freezer, maybe to be brought out on a chilly night to eat with fluffy mash and some roasted chicken or maybe a nice beef casserole…