Scrooge Soup

I don't plan recipes for this Blog. I am on a limited budget so the price of food tends to dictate what I cook, which means seasonal or reduced! This soup is something I cook on a regular basis if I have left over vegetables. By 'leftover' I mean uncooked and staring at me accusingly as they shrivel slightly in the bottom of the fridge, I do not  mean cooked veg from a roast. That takes the term leftovers to an unacceptable level!

The following ingredients are typical of a Scrooge Soup. The only thing I will say is red or white cabbage and string beans are not suitable for this recipe. It's also helpful if you have at least two out of the 'holy trinity' of garlic, chilli and ginger.

3 Carrots, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
2 Peppers, chopped
Half a Cauliflower
2 Potatoes, chopped
1.5 Litre Chicken or Vegetable Stock
3 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 tsp Celery Salt
2 tsps Dried Parsley
1 tsp Dried Coriander Leaf

1 Red Chilli, seeds in or out depending on taste.
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Put all the veg, garlic and chilli in and fry over a medium heat  for a few minutes. Add the coriander, parsley and celery salt and fry until you can smell the herbs. Season well and pour in the stock.

Cover and simmer for 45 minutes until the veg is tender. Blend and Voila! Easy, Simple and very Tasty.
Freezes well.

Patricia's Payday Pasties

My mother, Patricia has been making these pasties for as long as I can remember. She calls them 'payday pasties' because the ingredients are so cheap that if you ran out of money before payday, you could fall back on these. She certainly knows what she is talking about because I am one of 5 children! My mum made these for this Blog and my father 'forgot' to bring them over for me to eat. I suspect he ate them in the car! It is important to make your pastry with butter and NO cheating. This recipe demands a homemade pastry!

For the Pastry
200 grams Plain Flour
100 grams Butter, cubed
Pinch of Salt
1 Medium Egg Yolk
Iced Water
Egg for glazing

For the Filling
1 baking Potato, peeled and finely diced
Half a Swede, peeled and finely diced
1 Small Onion, finely diced.
200 grams Corned Beef, cubed.
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Oil for frying.


We don't muck about sieving flour in this house. Life is too short! Tip - Think cold. Cold hands, butter, water and kitchen make a perfect pastry.  Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and add the butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour. You don't have to be too precise. This is a rich shortcrust and easier to make than your classic version. Add the egg yolk and bind the pastry together with a little of the iced water. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Although it will keep overnight if you want to make it ahead of time.

Whilst it's chillin', make the filling!  Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and add the potato, onion and swede. You want to sweat this gently until it's tender, making sure you don't brown it. Season well, paying particular attention to the pepper and add the Worcestershire sauce. Take off the heat and fold in the corned beef cubes. Leave to cool completely.

Heat your oven to 180C. Divide the pastry and roll each into a large circles about half an inch thick. Brush the edges of each circle of pastry with the egg wash and then divide the filling mixture between the pastry, putting it in the very centre of the pastry. Fold over the pastry circle into a half moon shape and seal the edges shut . Crimp the edges and brush all over with egg wash, be liberal! Bake the pasties for about 25 minutes or until golden all over. 

 

My Childhood Heaven on a Plate!

Bacon, Potato and Onion Bake

Winter is definitely here and a very simple but comforting dish is Bacon, Potato and Onion Bake. I love this dish because it's another store cupboard fall back and easily assembled whilst you get on with other things. Try and use a cast iron or metal baking dish for this. It really makes a difference to the cooking time. No one likes raw potatoes!

6 Medium Potatoes, peeled and very finely sliced.
1 large White Onion, very finely sliced into rings.
200 grams of Strong Cheddar Cheese
400 mils of Milk or Milk and Cream mixed
Butter
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
8 Rashers of Smoked Bacon
Flat Leaf Parsley to finish.

Heat the Oven to 200 degrees. Liberally butter an 8 inch baking dish. Put a single layer of potatoes in the bottom of the dish. Put a quarter of the onion slices over the potato. Season well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the some of the Cheddar over and repeat 3 or four times until everything is evenly layered.

 Pour over the milk and seal the dish tightly with a double layer of foil. Cook for approx 45 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through. Whilst this is cooking chop the bacon into thin squares, making sure you separate them out.

 When the potatoes are soft take off the foil and whack the oven up to 220 degrees. Sprinkle the bacon on top of the potato and cook for a further 15 minutes until the potatoes are golden and the bacon is crisp. Finish with a sprinkling of parsley.Serves four as a side dish or two as a big plate of comfort food!

Sheftalia (Cypriot Pork Sausages)

The one all you Greek food fans have been waiting for. I am using a recipe from the Limassol area of the island but there are many variations on this and a lot of them are a closely guarded secret within the family! Okay, I admit the method is not simple but the ingredients are and with bonfire night coming up it's perfect for eating outside. All your friends will be clamouring for the recipe.

500 gms Coarsely Minced Pork. Make sure it has some fat in it.
1 Onion, finely chopped
Medium bunch of Flat leaf Parsley, finely chopped
Sea Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
1tsp Ground Cinnamon
3 Cloves Garlic, crushed
300 - 400 gms Caul Fat


Before I give you the method, a word about Caul Fat. Caul Fat is the membrane that covers the stomach of a lamb or pig, and is used in this recipe to wrap the meat in. It is naturally fatty and bastes the sausages as they cook. We know it as the fat we use to wrap up Faggots. The Cypriots call it Panna. It is a bit of a pain to get hold of but any traditional butcher should be able to order it for you and it freezes well. Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to a bowl of cold water and wash the caul. Drain it and make sure you squeeze out all the water. I prefer to use the 'thinner veined' areas because it gives a much more subtle taste. However if you are happy using it all then you won't need quite as much.

Put half the pork in a large bowl and season well. It's important to use cracked black pepper in this recipe for a more authentic taste. Add the remaining pork, onions, garlic, cinnamon and parsley and mix thoroughly. Season again and mix well. Put the caul fat on a board and stretch it out. Some cooks like to pre-cut squares but I tend to just work with it in thirds. Take a dessert spoon of the mixture and wrap the caul fat around it until it resembles a sausage. Don't be tempted to wrap it up as though you a using cling film. Less is more in this recipe. I know I'm being precise with the method but I was taught by an expert! This is what you should end up with.

If, like me you are a mad woman and happy to stand outside on Bonfire Night over a barbecue then that's how you should cook them. Put them on a medium heat and turn OFTEN. If you are not as foolhardy as me then grilling them is perfectly acceptable. Watch them carefully if you use this method. Finally you can use a griddle pan and cook then slowly over a gentle heat until they are cooked through.

Serve them in a hot Pitta bread with a salad of diced onion, cucumber, tomato and parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Utterly delicious.

Easy Tomato Soup

There are many recipes out there for Tomato Soup. You can spend hours skinning and deseeding tomatoes but this time of year our tomatoes taste of nothing. So unless you are prepared to pay a fortune for imported ones or have a secret stash in your greenhouse then use a good quality organic tinned variety. This recipe is a 'store cupboard' recipe and produces tasty and satisfying results.

1 Tin of Organic Chopped tomatoes
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 Carrots, finely diced
1 large Potato, peeled and diced
1 Red Pepper, diced
Heaped tsp Celery Salt
Heaped tsp Dried Basil
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Olive Oil.
3/4 Litre Chicken or Vegetable Stock

Put the onion, red pepper, carrots and potato in a large pan. Sweat on a medium heat until soft. Do not brown them. Add the celery salt, basil, salt, pepper and cook for two minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 40 minutes on a low heat or until the carrot is soft.

Blend until smooth. Taste the soup and add more seasoning if needed. You can serve this with croutons, bacon bits or just a swirl of cream. Simple but effective. Serves 4.

Crispy Fried Onions

These are more difficult to cook than they look but a little patience on your part goes a long way. Make sure you stand over them or they will burn. Use a heavy based pan. The sweet crispy taste is well worth the effort you put in.

3 Medium Onions
Oil for frying.

Cut each onion in half, length ways, then slice it evenly, cross ways, into thin slices. Add enough oil to generously cover the base of the pan. Fry the onions over a high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown. Turn the heat down to medium and stir fry for about another 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to low and fry for another couple of minutes until the onions are a deep reddish brown. Drain the onions into a sieve and and shake as much oil from them as possible. Tip onto a plate lined with kitchen paper and leave to cool for about 5 minutes. Tip onto another paper lined plate and leave to go completely cold. Sprinkle on Soups or Stews to give added flavour and depth. 

Butternut Squash and Chilli Soup with Crispy Fried Onions.

I have a love hate relationship with squashes of all varieties. I love the  beautiful autumnal colours and hate the lack of flavour.With a little effort on your part, this is easy to resolve. I tend to use chilli instead of coriander and cumin because it's a more subtle flavour. You can add toppings to finish your soup. Cream, Bacon or Onions or just serve with a robust garlic bread.

2 Medium Butternut Squash
2 Red Onions
6-8 Cloves of Garlic, unpeeled.
3 Carrots
2 Whole Red Chilli's (1 if you are a wimp!)
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
3 Sprigs Rosemary, leaves removed and chopped.
1 litre Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Juice of 1 Large Orange
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil

Heat the oven to 200 degrees.  Cut the butternut squash in half and remove the seeds with a spoon. Score the flesh with a sharp knife. Put the whole garlic cloves into the well of the squash. Halve the onions, Peel and halve the carrots. Put them all on a baking tray and drizzle with about 3 tbps of olive oil and 2 tbps of balsamic vinegar. Season well. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the squash is tender and coloured slightly. Note after about 20 minutes you will probably have to remove the chili and onion to avoid overdoing them.

 Remove the squash from it's skin and roughly chop the other cooked veg. Add this to the stock and bring to the boil. When the garlic cloves are cool enough to handle, squeeze the flesh into the pot and add the rosemary. Simmer for about 40 minutes and blend in a liquidiser or with a hand held blender until smooth and creamy. Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if needed. Finally add the orange juice, which sweetens and lifts the whole soup. Serve with Crispy Fried Onions. The recipe is located under side dishes. Serves 4 to 6 depending on your appetite!