fried rice with squash, chestnuts and chard

After last night’s efficiency tonight we slip to the opposite extreme. Partly this is because Ana has to pick Milo up from a playdate, which always takes longer than anticipated, and drags into a late bath and later reading stories and even later going to sleep than any small boy has a right to. Also, it’s Tuesday night running club, which means I’m not back exactly early, which adds another layer of delay to the evening.

With all this going, the trick to Tuesday night cooking (although I suppose this goes for any weeknight meals) is minimum prep, minimum cooking time, maximum flavour and/or heft. Although I hasten to add ‘diet-friendly heft’. Tonight this all comes the perfectly formed package of squash and chard thingy – this time with chard and a crusty base!

Cook rice, open prepacked and sliced squash, soften squash with garlic, add packed chestnuts and rice, add chopped chard, wilt, add cream cheese. Eat. Simple!

It does need a fair whack of seasoning mind, just to lift the flavours slightly, and I wouldn’t rule out chucking in a good wodge of soy sauce as that sort of works.

sources
fried rice with squash, chestnuts and chard - Delicious, November 2011, p76

fried rice with squash, chestnuts and chard

There’s an element of luck to tonight’s dinner. We’ve never had the chicken and chorizo pie before, but in the same suggested Bonfire night meal planner is this rice and squash dish. Not that we’re planning to have it, but the ingredients are made up of the usual odds and ends we have going spare: half a squash, half a tub of cream cheese, rice, spinach or chard (okay, spinach) and parsley. All I need to do is get some chestnuts in the cupboard and we’re sorted for any future occasion when the pantry is bare. Even better, and completely coincidentally, Ana come across the same recipe whilst tidying up earlier in the week and said it looked tasty.

This is very lucky as not three days later I’ve inexplicable under-planned the week’s meals by a day, and we’ve got the following in the fridge:

· Half a squash left-over from the vegetable biryani

· Half a tub of cream cheese

· A bag of spinach and chard salad

In fact the only thing we’re missing is the parsley, and I’m not convinced at the very first attempt making it whether I can simply swop in the tarragon lurking in the salad crisper.

As it turns out, tarragon might not have been a bad addition. It’s a pretty easy thing to knock together and is quite nice, but it lacks a certain punchiness to make it really delicious. Ana’s suggestion of adding soy sauce is pretty inspired and certainly lifts it up, and I think melting some cheddar cheese on top would also add some more flavour, and maybe some chilli and/or ginger. Even better, I’m fairly sure you could use a variety of handy, left-over ingredients to make this – aubergine, courgette and mushrooms would all definitely work.

sources
 fried rice with squash, chestnuts and chard - Delicious, November 2011, p76

tagine of butternut squash, shallots, sultanas and pomegranate molasses

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tagine of butternut squash, shallots, sultanas and pomegranate molasses - Ghillie Basan, Delicious, February 2014, p68

butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto

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butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto - Waitrose October recipe card 2013

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's warm salad of mushrooms and roasted squash

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warm salad of mushrooms of roasted squash - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg! Everday, p94

butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto

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butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto - Waitrose October recipe card 2013

butternut squash (pumpkin) and caramelised onion risotto

sources
butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto - Waitrose October recipe card 2013

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's roast pumpkin soup

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pumpkin soup - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Year, p 199

rosie ramsden's pumpkin, feta and pine nut filo layer

One of the many fall outs from Milo’s party, other than the huge bag of recycling, the cupboard full of crisps and sweets and outbreaks of overtired tears, is the unexpected glut of pumpkins in the house.

Normally these would just end up as soup as everybody likes it and it’s easily freezable, however an Ana-fuelled trip to IKEA means we need to off-set rugs with as frugal a week as possible, so hold on to your hats for a full week of squash-based fun!

Tonight’s dinner was actually pre-planned as I was allowing for using up the carved pumpkins from Hallowe’en: An experimental pumpkin and feta pie. However despite this being on the weekly recipe list, we still don’t seem to have any eggs, garlic or enough lemon.

Even so, I’m mildly surprised how well it turns out, particularly as I went rogue and used up some crème fraiche in place of the eggs (I was thinking bulk), and I don’t think I used enough oil on the filo pastry:

Despite the claggy nature of the Feta, the lemon zest such as there was worked hard to cut through the stodge, and the pumpkin was sweeter and lighter. I can see where the garlic might’ve helped lift it, mind. All-in-all a great success although we’ll see how Milo fares with it after school tomorrow, and I think next time a green salad would be an excellent accompaniment rather than the beans.

sources
pumpkin, feta and pine nut filo layer - Rosie Ramsden, Delicious, October 2013, p66

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's porotos granados

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Porotos granados - HFW, River Cottage Veg Everyday, p146

butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto

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butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto - Waitrose October recipe card 2013

butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto

Is there anything better on a crisp and cold autumnal evening, than  running home from work in record time (mostly due to my new watch, I suspect. Best birthday present ever), and then finding a spanking new risotto recipe, care of one of those free cards you pick up in the supermarket?

We’re loving our risottos at the moment, and squash and pumpkin are obviously terribly du jour, so clearly pumpkin risotto is a match made in autumnal heaven. As with everything, we’ve already got a standard version care of Donna Hay and her leek and feta-laced version, but by dint of fact we’ve not had it since 2010 I’m willing to suggest it’s not our bestest Arborio-Cucurbita love-in.

As it turns out, this one from Waitrose is amazing. Not only is it rich, warming and hearty enough to sooth Ana’s cold, I also get to use my new birthday-risotto spoon. Even better not only do you not have to stir it (much), it’s also a handy home for my rapidly going out of date jar of dried thyme. BOOMTOWN!

sources
butternut squash and caramelised onion risotto - Waitrose October recipe card 2013

allegra mcevedy's karma soupra

It’s remarkable how quickly you settle back into the routines of work, and I include all three of us in this sweeping statement: Ana gets up unfeasibly early and gets ready whilst pretending to be quiet and occasionally making me tea. I’ll get up, make two lots of packed lunches and wrangle Milo out of pajamas and out the door.

In the evening Ana does the wrangling, and get back in time for some stories and to cook, whilst she does her homework. It’s like the last year hasn’t happened.

Our precarious financial state make things are even slicker, even allowing for a mild Milo tantrum, as we’re raiding the freezer in the countdown to payday. Tonight it’s a re-run of Allegra Mcevedy’s fabulously warming Karma Soupra, with an added handful of lentils to bulk things out:

sources
karma soupra - Allegra McEvedy, Delicious circa 2005, now the Parsley Book

hugh's north african squash and chickpea stew

Other than a roast, nothing says autumn is on it's way more than a hearty stew ticking away on the hob, and guess what's cooking tonight?

Funnily enough I'm not as famished as I usually am after yesterday's 5:2 starvathon, so I don't have to instantly make a huge pile of sandwiches when I get home. This means I've got more time to chop up squash/onions/garlic/celery when I get home, and indeed get a bit frisky with some left-over chorizo lurking in the fridge.

What we end up with is a great heart-warming, satisfying stew which is made even richer by the addition of the chorizo, which adds a piquant dimension and greater depth for flavour. This is all to the good as we both knackered, hence the picture wobble:

There's simply too much to do at the moment, and things aren't helped by a Milo discovering hitherto untapped mines of energy after some post-school swimming.

And if we weren't sure it the seasons were turning, watching The Killing is final confirmation. We still can't work out whodunnit though...

sources
north african squash and chickpea stew - HFW, River Cottage Veg Everyday, p30

allegra mcevedy's karma soupra

sources
karma soupra - Allegra McEvedy, Delicious circa 2005, now the Parsley Book

magic bean soup

I think I must be losing my mind. Once again I've spent months searching high and low for a recipe I had spotted ages ago as a definite future experimental soup, only to be denied every time it came to shopping day. Tonight I thought the Gods were finally with me as not only did I stumble across it whilst looking for potential dinners for this weekend's Corfe Castle Camping Extravaganza, but we also had all the ingredients!

Ignore the name mind, you just need a can each of kidney and mixed beans - neither of which count as particularly 'magic', although the filling-yet-curiously-healthy soup is pretty close to magical. Although the half a baguette I stuffed down rather off-set any nascent feelings of 'diet'.

The only downside to this dish is, within minutes of making it I tidied up the kitchen, and all I now know for certain is the recipe is once again somewhere in a pile made up of five years of Delicious magazine. Sorry

hugh's roast pumpkin soup

What's better than a day at work watching it snow outside? Why a whole evening of heavy snow, and the next day being a Saturday of course!

It's the perfect training weekend for Milo, to get him prepared for the holiday of a lifetime chez Hamilton's amazing Harlock Household (get those chicken wings on Hayley!); we go sledging in Richmond Park, we build snowmen, we throw snowballs and we generally arse about. It's aces!

And the best way to warm up? Why with a hearty bowl of Saint Hugh's amazing roast pumpkin soup with a side portion of cheese (and Worcestershire sauce) on toast!

Mmmm, thick, warming, garlicky goodness. Even better (other than the fact there's loads for lunch this week) is the fact Milo decides he doesn't like cheese on toast. Mu-ha-ha-ha!

Wine Time
The keen-eyed will spot I wasn't actually drinking wine with my soup, I had a brewski. Partly this is because I'm not a massive fan of wine and soup; it's the liquid-liquid thing I struggle with, and on reflection I don't actually remember drinking anything whilst eating it.

I suppose if you wanted to try something, I suppose the best thing you can do is go with a trad match of an off-dry Riesling or a Gewurtztraminer, particularly as the soup has a lot of garlic which gives it a bit more sweetness.

sources
pumpkin soup - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Year, p 199

squash and cumin soup with thyme and chorizo

One day into 2013 and already we're being (relatively) healthy. Admittedly we had spent the morning lolling around the lounge with the McPartlins, battling terrible hangovers with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and scrambled eggs and marmite on toast, before joining the rest of South West London trying to blow away the cobwebs with a hearty walk around Richmond Park.

So what better reward than a hale and hearty soup ticking away on the hob whilst we watch festive animated films, and Ana slept? Naturally we did keep our spirits up with some Christmas chocolate biscuits, but apparently I'm taking them into the office this week, so expect massive weight loss soon.

Anyway, the soup: It was interesting in a good way I think. Certainly roasting it with thyme, and gently frying the onions and garlic with cumin and coriander, gave it a bit of warming oompf, but it also had a sweetness to it, a bit like carrot and coriander soup which is one of my least favourite flavours. Ultimately I think it loses out to Hugh's roast pumpkin soup, which is just delicious - although I will be stealing the herb addition, and chorizo topping.

sources
squash and cumin soup with thyme and chorizo - Delicious, March 2010, p40

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's warm salad of mushrooms and roasted squash

When I own my first Bistro in Barnes, called 'The Yummington Mummington', I will be churning out exactly this sort of fayre to SW14s mummies at lunchtime, 14 quid a pop, along with a large bottle of Rosé or Sauvignon Blanc with a straw in it.

However Queen Yummington Mummington (or Qym as I'm now calling her), says there's too much blue cheese in it, which is a fair point as I doubled the amount on the basis it'll only go off in the fridge. So maybe I'll use some sort of Blue Halloumi - Yummington's love halloumi!

sources
warm salad of mushrooms of roasted squash - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg! Everday, p94

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's warm salad of mushrooms and roasted squash

So, Ana's out tonight with the laydeez having cocktails (and cote de boef it turns out) in The Depot, and having completely crashed out with Milo after dropping Ana off, I'm keen to put myself back to bed. Only this time using the tried-and-trusted method of two bottles of vino collapso, and a good book.

However, that two hour power nap peps me up slightly more than I had allowed for. So rather than getting an early night I end up, well, updating the blog at 01:16 having first watched the Osprey's put the Dragons to the Sword on BBC Wales (Shane Williams: Legend), slightly drunkenly collecting Ana on the Best Bike Ever, listening to the Horrible Histories soundtrack, and then phoning Dr Robert Peter Manwaring. An Englishman.

Fortunately for the purposes of this blog, I also managed to squeeze in a little experimental creation which despite my drunken fumbling with a very-large-but-mercifully-slightly-blunt knife, was bloody delicious. Behold Saint Hugh's Warm Salad of Mushrooms and Roasted Squash:

I have to say, despite being one bottle of Rioja, one bottle of Vouvray and a cheeky sloe gin down, it really is lovely: Rich and earthy, but offset by the creaminess of the blue cheese, and the peppery-ness of the rocket. Not for nothing is it in the 'Hearty Salad' section, and we'll be having this again, hopefully when I'm not as drunk - although does that matter?

Wine Time
Rioja and Vouvray. And Sloe Gin. Although if you're being sensible, a light red would work really well, so actually a young Rioja, or maybe a Cote du Rhone to offset the pepper of rocket and the seasoning.

sources
warm salad of mushrooms of roasted squash - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg! Everday, p94