Pumpkin Pie

An american gem, the pumpkin pie is by far my favourite american pudding. This was my first attempt to make it myself and I think it went rather well, apart from a little burn on the top due to a bad oven, it was devoured by the Sunday lunch team!

Ingredients

750g of pumpkin cut into chunks

350g sweet shortcrust pastry

plain flour for dusting

140g white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

25g melted butter

175ml milk

1tbsp icing sugar

Instructions

• Place the pumpkin in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 15 mins or until tender. Drain pumpkin; let cool.
• Heat oven to 160C fan - roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use it to line a 22cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Chill for 15 mins. Line the pastry with baking parchment and baking beans, then bake for 15 mins. Remove the beans and paper, and cook for a further 10 mins until the base is pale golden and biscuity. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
• Increase oven to 200C fan. Push the cooled pumpkin through a sieve into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, salt, nutmeg and half the cinnamon. Mix in the beaten eggs, melted butter and milk, then add to the pumpkin purée and stir to combine. Pour into the tart shell and cook for 10 mins, then reduce the temperature to 160C fan. Continue to bake for 35-40 mins until the filling has just set.
• Leave to cool, then remove the pie from the tin. Mix the remaining cinnamon with the icing sugar and dust over the pie. Serve chilled with whipped cream.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2011

Roast asparagus, beetroot, artichoke & walnut pasta

Continuing our artichoke journey from my previous post, using the artichoke heart I made a sumptuous roast veggie pasta.  

Ingredients

1/2 a packet penne pasta (gluten free option)

6 Asparagus

1 Beetroot (boiled)

2 Artichoke hearts

6 Walnuts

2 Tbsp Basil Pesto

1 Lemon juice

3 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Red onion

Handful of basil leaves

Olive oil

Pepper & Salt

Instructions

Turn the oven onto 150 degrees (bake), prepare a oven tray with asparagus, garlic and beetroot (chunky chopped) tossed in olive oil and salt. Bake in the oven for 30mins.

Place pasta in boiling water, and cook for 15-20mins or until cooked through. In a bowl soak the finely chopped red onion in lemon juice for 10 minutes then mix the walnuts, basil pesto and crumbled artichoke hearts.

Once pasta is cooked, drain and place in a large bowl. Stir through the roast veggies and the rest of the ingredients. Top with basil and season with pepper and salt.

Dotty about food: How to cook an artichoke

Dotty about food: How to cook an artichoke: I have often wondered about the mysterious artichoke and how it goes from its flower head form to its delicious hearts in a jar, on the sup...

How to cook an artichoke

I have often wondered about the mysterious artichoke and how it goes from its flower head form to its delicious hearts in a jar, on the supermarket shelf, finish.

So I thought I'd investigate...

Step 1.

Buy an artichoke

Step 2.

Do a bit of googling

Step 3.

Boil a pot of water

Step 4.

Give it a haircut: Trim spiky tips off leaves & chop the tip off and any excess stalk

Step 5.

Put said artichoke into the boiling water and drown it with a smaller pot lid

Step 6.

Get fancy: Put some lemon, garlic cloves and pepper corns in the mix

Step 7.

Go watch something riveting for 30-40 minutes

Step 8.

Poke the artichoke to see if its cooked (should be nice and soft)

Step 9.

Remove the drowned artichoke, only to cut the poor bastard in half!

Step 10.

Scoop out its furry bits

Step 11. 

Pull leaves and dip!

Stay tuned for what I did with it's heart...

Crunchy Asian Slaw

You simply have to try this!! 

It is so fresh and zinging with flavours; if you enjoy coriander and a bit of chilli kick then this is the dish for you. Non salad eaters don't be afraid this is very filling, you will not feel like you have gone without!

Ingredients

(Ratios up to you & your palate)

50% Red cabbage

50% Chinese/Napa cabbage

Carrot

Red onion

Cherry tomatoes

Red pepper

Coriander

Peeled cucumber

Sugar Snap peas

Radish

Avocado (optional)

Crushed peanuts (garnish)

Chicken breast (marinade below)

Dressing/Marinade

(If you chose to marinade your chicken you may want to double this recipe, depending on how many people you are making this for)

1/3 C Sweet Thai Chilli

1/2 C White Wine vinegar or Rice Wine vinegar if your going full bodied asian

1/4 C Grape Seed oil

1 lemon juiced

2 large slices Ginger root

3 Garlic gloves crushed & finely chopped 

(I'm nuts on garlic so you might want to reduce this)

1 tsp Worchester sauce or Soy Sauce if your going full bodied asian

Pepper & salt

Instructions

Chop the chicken breast into cubes and marinade with 1/2 the dressing above.  You can do this quickly or over night - depending on how much time you have.  The alternative is to toss it in a hot sauce.  Pan fry and leave to rest before topping the crunchy slaw off.

Finely chop the cabbage up, toss in a bowl with grated carrot and red onion until a colourful blend. Blanche the sugar snap peas or briefly boil (15-20 seconds) and leave to cool.  Cut the peeled cucumber, red pepper, and radish/s into thin slices, like soldiers, add the quartered cherry tomatoes and top the crunchy slaw with it. Top with the sugar snap peas, coriander, avocado, crushed peanuts and finely the chicken.

Shake the dressing up well and pour over the crunchy slaw. I like to put a dollop of my very garlic aioli on top, just because I can, but it breaks the theme a bit.

A seriously moorish dish!!!

Prawn pasta!

Have you ever heard the phrase, don't go supermarket shopping when you're hungry? Well on the flip side of the coin,  cooking in an empty kitchen turns you into a genius! 

All credit goes to my sister in-law to be for this dish - I simply have kept making it due to it's simple scrumptiousness!

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Spaghetti

1 fresh chilli

1 large handful of coriander or parsley

2 cloves of garlic

1 lemon (juiced)

24 prawns (6 each)

Olive oil

Pepper

Salt

Parmesan

Instructions

Simply cook the pasta with a dash of olive oil and salt, fry the prawns with olive oil and minced garlic cloves, then finely chop the chilli and coriander. 

Pour the pasta into a large bowl toss in olive oil, lemon juice, chilli and coriander, then toss through the prawns and garlic, add pepper and salt to season. I top with parmesan because pasta to me is not complete without it!

Next month, I will start to look at how to cook simple and delicious dairy and gluten free meals, as I start my health journey that involves cutting out most foods that are hard on the body. As Ann Wigmore said, "The food you eat can either be the safest and most powerful medicine or the slowest form of poison."

Tex Mex Tacos

The next few entries are my favourite quick and easy meals for after work.

If you are a Tex Mex fan like me you will love these quick and easy ways to achieve the flavour without the complicated list of ingredients. In this recipe I have used spinach wraps rather than soft shell tacos.

Ingredients

4 prawns (per taco)

Garlic clove & knob of butter

Soft shell tacos or wraps

Herb slaw or coleslaw (red onion optional)

Jalapeños & brine

Avocado

Cherry tomatoes

Coriander

Aioli (see my recipe)

Smoked Paprika

Instructions

Pan fry your prawns (I leave the tails on) with butter and a crushed garlic clove. Brush your soft shell taco/wrap with water and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Sprinkle smoked paprika through your aioli with a little jalapeño brine and toss through your coleslaw/herb slaw. Put 2 Tbsp of coleslaw in the middle of the wrap top with the prawns, finely chopped jalapeños, cherry tomatoes, avocado and coriander.   

Mouth watering Tex Mex goodness without the drama!!