Beef and pumpkin soup

This is a recent favourite, but we are so obsessed with it we can't stop making it.

For one large pot of soup you will need….

Lean diced beef, trimmed
A small pumpkin or a butternut squash or an acorn squash or any kind of squash really, peeled, de-seeded and chopped
A big onion
A red or yellow or orange pepper
2-3 cloves of garlic
A good grating of ginger (if you like – your call)
A chili (or two or three depending on how you like it!)
A beef stock cube
Some Caribbean spices. I have used Island Spice beef-and-pumpkin soup mix, Grace pumpkin soup mix, and a mixture of Jerk and Caribbean BBQ spices (by Dunn’s River) in the past, all with good results





2 bay leaves
3 whole allspice berries (dried)
Some fresh tomatoes, chopped into six or eight depending how big they are
Sweetcorn (canned or fresh) – optional
Beans (I like kidney, aduki or gungo peas) – optional
Black pepper (not an option, haha!)

If you are doing it in a slow cooker, just bung everything in with the meat at the top, make up the stock cube as a pint of stock initially, and then just top up til it looks soupy enough for you. Then just leave it to cook for as long as you’ve got – I have done this very successfully overnight on low, and in six hours on high.

OR

In a pan, brown off the beef and add the onion, garlic, ginger and chili. Soften together and then just add everything else and enough stock to cover; bring it up to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook til the veg and the beef are tender. This is seriously deeeeelicious.

Squidgy banana cake

I know there's already a banana cake recipe on here, but I am obsessed and really love a good squidgy cake. So er...here's another one.

3 large ripe bananas (or 4 small)
2 cups of plain wholemeal flour
two thirds cup Splenda (or caster sugar, if you're okay with it)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
half a cup (about 80g) of softened butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp cinnamon
1 generous tsp vanilla extract
And then whatever fruity/nutty bits you like - I usually add a few chopped dates, a small handful of sultanas, maybe 25g poppy seeds, or a few chopped walnuts, or any combination of the above; blueberries, cranberries, a bit of coconut, some dried pineapple - the choices are endless really.

It's SO easy. Preheat the oven to moderate - about GM 6, 180 degrees.

With a hand mixer, beat your bananas in a large bowl, then add the Splenda/sugar, butter and eggs, beating all the time. Then fold in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder. When you've got a batter going on, fold in your chosen fruit and nuts.

Pour into a silicon loaf mould (or a prepared tin) and bake for about 45-50 minutes in the middle of the oven, until the skewer test works! Enjoy :)

Sid's Birthday Poppyseed and Vanilla Cake

I made this for my friend Sid's birthday last weekend; Chris made it for me the first year we were together, so it has fond memories for me :)

Firstly, the cake....this is adapted from a Rachel Allen recipe. When you turn it out of the tin it will look really small. This is because...it IS really small. However this does not keep and as you know it is very rich, so all things considered, we can work with that. If you wanted to do a double, vanilla sandwich cake, you could either with a palette knife split a one-layer cake and make double the amount of buttercream, or make two cakes and sandwich them together (again, making double the amount of buttercream). Anyway.....

150g (5 oz) softened butter (I used slightly salted)
100g (3.5 oz) caster sugar (golden or otherwise, doesn't matter)
3 eggs, beaten
100g (3.5 oz) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder (not soda)
75g (3 oz) poppy seeds (Sainsbury's usually have them, ASDA never do)
zest of one lemon
Generous splash of vanilla extract - this is your call, but I love a good vanilla-y cake, so splash it in.

8-inch (20cm) spring form cake tin. Prepare it by buttering/lining with parchment - as this cake only needs to JUST cook (or it will be like a bisquit), you have to really make sure you can get it out, it is really fragile, so butter and line thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 170 C (325F), Gas 3.

Then just do your cake as usual - cream the butter and sugar with a hand mixer til fluffy and pale, then add the eggs a bit at a time, sift in the flour and baking powder in a bit at a time, folding in with a spatula, and then finally add the poppy seeds, lemon and vanilla and gently stir til combined.

Spoon into your cake tin and make a slight well in the centre with a spoon - only a slight dip. It just helps to keep it flatter as it cooks.

It goes in the middle of the oven for 25-28 minutes; you need to watch it like a hawk (or the aforementioned bisquit situation will arise). When you can insert a skewer into the centre and it comes out clean, it's done. It will not be particularly brown and golden - this is okay; as long as it's set, you are fine. I was concerned as mine was very pale, but in all honesty it is quite a crunchy cake so you don't want the outside with a crust, ha ha. It might take a couple of minutes longer if you don't have a fan assist. It's all good.

That goes on a rack to cool after about ten minutes in the tin to shrink away from the sides slightly so you can get it out without it breaking. The icing is the slightly more fiddly bit.

Vanilla buttercream icing - this makes enough to either do the top and sides or to sandwich two together. If you want to do both, double up.

150ml (quarter of a pint) of milk - full milk if poss
125g (4.5 oz) caster sugar - golden or otherwise
2 egg yolks
175g (6oz) butter, softened
vanilla extract - now her recipe says 1 tsp, I say balls to that and put it in til it smells of delicious, it is vanilla icing!! I don't measure.

You also need

a small saucepan
a small bowl, a balloon whisk, and a folded tea towel for step 2
a larger bowl for step 3

AND - just in case - another, spare mixing bowl (or a big jug) and a sieve, in case you have a Scrambling Incident. It is just for emergencies, set it up ready with the sieve positioned on top so you can pour everything through.

1. Put the milk and sugar in the saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, so that the sugar dissolves.

2. In the small bowl, whisk the egg yolks, and then pour the milk onto them, whisking the whole time. I put a tea towel under the bowl so it doesn't move while I have the pan in one hand and the balloon whisk in the other. Then, pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and return to the hob on a gentle heat; you now need to stay with it, stirring gently, until it thickens up and covers the back of a spoon. This takes about 10-12 minutes; don't put the heat up high to speed things up as it'll scramble the eggs (hence the emergency sieve). If that happens, quickly pass it all through the sieve. Do keep stirring though as you are making custard and as you know it has a tendency to form a squidge on the bottom. When it's done pour it into a jug and leave it to cool right down to near room temperature.

3. Finally, put your softened butter in a bowl and cream it with a hand mixer. When it's soft and light, add the custard to it, whisking as you go, and fold in the vanilla. Voila! It is done.

At this point I don't know whether to say ice the cake, or just cut it into fingers and dip it in the buttercream...ha!

Fallen Angel bakery, Harborne

I had a business meeting in Harborne this afternoon and on my way back to the car I spied a lovely bakery...I got an Oreo cupcake for my beloved, and a red velvet one for me :)

The spiciest curry I have ever made!

Last night I was lucky enough to visit with my friend Mariane, her daughter Kaenaat and her mom on the first breaking of the fast for Ramadan. We ate aubergine and potato pakora, lamb and cauliflower curry and chicken and turnip curry with roti and rice and it was amazing - thanks to Mariane and her mom! It was actually a bit of a taste of home for me. Mariane and I lived together for some of our time at university (well, strictly speaking I stayed with her for part of the week as it was a terrible commute), and she is responsible I think for my curiosity about food.

Last night, as we waited for the time to come to break the fast, Mariane came into the lounge and ordered me to drive her to the shops to buy an aubergine - and we ended up at Food World on Washwood Heath Road. I wish we had that much of a selection of vegetables and spices nearer to our flat! Anyway, she showed me some different seasoning blends that I have not used before, and I also picked up some methi (which I have also never used before), and tonight I endeavoured to make a keema curry with peas (which she used to make when we were at uni together) and aloo methi, a variation on aloo sag, which I do sometimes make.

Here are the seasoning mixes I used, and this is how to do it. These were very cheap - £1 for both boxes, and each box is one use, just one package of seasoning.




For the keema curry:
1 pack lean beef mince
1 large onion
3-4 green finger chilis
3 fat cloves garlic
Frozen peas
1 pack of seasoning, mixed into a paste with 3tbsp water

For the potato and methi curry:
Potatoes, boiled, cooled and cubed
2 big bunches methi, washed, shaken dry, and I removed the big stalks. Or just use spinach!
1 big onion
3 cloves garlic
2-3 finger chilis (I had a big bag of finger chilis!)
1 can tomatoes
a courgette, diced small
a red bell pepper, diced small
1 pack of seasoning as shown

I served this with brown rice and cottage cheese - plain yogurt would have been better but we didn't have any ;)

So, for the keema: just brown the mince, adding the onion, garlic and chili and allowing to soften. Mix the seasoning with some water, add and allow to cook through and dry up - it shouldn't be liquidy. Finally, when you're nearly ready to serve, add frozen peas and allow them to steam through. Easy!

The potato and methi curry is also easy. Do your potatoes first, just boil and then remove from the pan, allow to cool and dice. Meanwhile, just make a veg curry - soften the onion, garlic, chili and ginger until golden and slippery, then add the courgette and pepper, tomato and seasoning. Pop the lid on and let it all cook through. When you're ready, add the potatoes and the prepared methi (or spinach - it behaves very similarly, you just want it to wilt down) to the pan and allow it all to heat through.

MvF inspired burgers with baby baked potatoes

Oh Adam Richman, you have so much to answer for.

There's not really a recipe here - I made the burgers by mixing a pack of lean ground beef (350g) with half a grated onion, one grated clove of garlic, salt, black pepper, and dried parsley, and then shaped them with my hands (I made four fat ones).

On the toasted buns, I added sliced beef tomato, sweet onion, pickled gherkins, American mustard (French's), crumbled blue cheese (just a bit!) and ketchup. Chris's (pictured) had smoked bacon too.

The baby baked potatoes were just boiled baby potatoes which then went into the oven whole and were baked at a high heat, sprinkled with sea salt and a spray or two of olive oil to stop them sticking.

Jamaican BBQ chicken with ginger and pineapple (and rice with beans)

I made this last week and it was DELICIOUS but it has been a very busy week and I forgot to post it.

For the chicken bit:

Chicken thighs (or breast, whichever you prefer), cut up
A big onion
Chilis (however many you like - I used two Scotch Bonnets)
A big tbsp ginger paste
A cup of chopped pineapple
Bell pepper - I used one red, one green
2 courgettes, diced
1 can tomatoes
Garlic - to your taste, I only put two fat cloves in this one, though
Jamaican BBQ seasoning - 2 tbsp (from Dunn's River)
Jerk seasoning - 1 good tsp (I also used Dunn's River)
Fine green beans, sliced into rounds

For the rice:
Cooked kidney beans (I used canned)
Rice
1 can of coconut milk (light)
200ml stock (I used chicken, from a cube)
Cinnamon and thyme to taste

So. Brown the chicken, and add the chili, ginger, garlic and onion. Put the lid on and let everything soften, and then add the pineapple and seasonings. Give it a few minutes, then add all the vegetables and tomatoes, heat up and then turn down to simmer.

In a separate pan, put all the ingredients for the rice and beans. Bring up to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cover. It will take about 15 minutes (until all the liquid is absorbed) but keep an eye on things!