So, after promising you a couple of healthy recipes, I then buggered off and promptly forgot all about them.  Sorry.

Anyhoo, here I am, back live and a week into my alcohol free month.  It’s going well.  It’s going really well.  I feel fab – and after the amazing facial, my skin’s feeling fab too.  I’m drinking much more water (Katy told me that your body often mistakes thirst for hunger) and one of the biggest changes for me has been lunch.  I’ve switched from a sandwich and a packet of crisps, to a bowl of soup, and it’s made an amazing difference.

Why switch to soup?

Well, firstly, if you make it yourself, you know exactly what’s in it.  You can pack it full of veggies (great for that half a butternut squash left in the fridge, or a half packet of green beans that got forgotten) and it’s really low fat.  If you’ve got leftover chicken or beef in the fridge, you can add that in too.  Do what I do and make a great big vat of the stuff and store it in the fridge so it’s easy to grab and stops that lunchtime dithering thing that can see you reaching for a lump of cheese and a box of crackers (or is that just me?).  And remember, lentils are your friend.

Why lentils?

Lentils are, and I don’t use this word lightly, a real superfood.  They’re full of fibre and loads of other fab stuff like iron and B vitamins and are great for providing that protein kick you need at lunchtime to see you through the day. They also have the advantage of being a great thickener, so if you’re trying to eat healthily they’re an excellent addition to soups and stews.  They absorb flavours really well and have a mild, almost nutty taste themselves.

Get colourful

A good rule of thumb when making soup is to make sure you have lots of different colours going in there.  Different coloured veg generally provide different vitamins and minerals, so bung in some carrots or butternut squash, then choose something green (freeze a bag of spinach so you can grab a handful) and maybe, say, a red onion too.  Here’s a quick recipe, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be making a different variety every time and you’ll never get bored.

Vary your seasoning

Think past salt and pepper.  Sweeter vegetables like parsnips and carrots go really well with a bit of earthy spice… tomatoes go well with chilli… have an experiment.

Lentil and vegetable soup

There are no hard and fast rules here.. add what you like and leave out what you don’t.

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

Variety of veg, peeled and chopped (three or four double handfuls should do it).  I used:

3 large carrots

1 large parsnip

1/2 butternut squash

1/2 bag watercress and rocket salad

Thick slice of savoy cabbage, chopped

2 litres chicken stock (or veg stock – cube is fine)

About 150 – 200g red lentils

So heat up the oil in a very large saucepan.  Add in the onion and fry until translucent.   If you’re adding spice, add it now – stir it around with the onions and oil until you can really smell it (I know that sounds weird, but it works).  Now, add in all your prepared veg, then pour over the stock.  Add in the lentils (use less if you prefer your soup thinner).  Simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender, then blitz with a stick blender.

I’ve been writing on Ready for Ten recently (I would link to it but it’s not published yet – patience, grasshopper) about the age old dilemma of getting the kids to eat enough fruit and veg. I make this sauce a lot (I use it as soup as well) and although it’s got plenty of green veg in, it still looks like plain ol’ tomato which puts paid to ‘ewww – what’s that?’ – my most favourite dinnertime question. Plus, of course, there’s the satisfaction of getting one over on your kids, which is always a bonus.

Of course, even if your family will happily eat their five a day, it’s still a great tea-time all rounder.  You can:

• add in other veg, increase the stock and serve as soup with some easy herby bread
• tart it up with 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (put them in at the beginning) and some fried streaky bacon strips
• add basil and pour over pan-fried meatballs
• use in lasagnes and bolognese
• stir into a pack of tortellini (spinach and ricotta is our favourite) and sprinkle with Parmesan
• pour over chicken breasts, dot with torn pieces of mozzarella and bake in the oven

I could go on, but frankly I’m starting to bore myself, but you get the message: it’s incredibly versatile.  It has a lovely mellow sweet flavour too.  This quantity makes enough to cover pasta for four people and a portion for the freezer too.  Ninja costumes at the ready, then:

You will need:

1 large leek
1 large onion
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp salt
1 tin good quality tomatoes (don’t use the cheapo ones, they’re too runny)
The same amount of stock (chicken, veg, bouillon, whatever)
1 tsp sugar
Freshly ground pepper

So slice the leek lengthways and rinse under running water to remove any grit or mud. Chop finely.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a heavy-based saucepan and pop in the leek. Finely chop the onion and add that in too. Sprinkle with the salt and then cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally for a good ten minutes until everything is well softened.

Add in a tsp of sugar and the tinned tomatoes. Fill the tin once more with the stock (if I don’t have any home made I just pop in a stock cube and top it up with boiling water). Add in to the pan.

Now just cover and leave it for half an hour. This bit’s really important – everything needs to be really soft to get the texture right. After that, you can remove from the heat, blend with a stick blender and test the seasoning (add pepper or a touch more salt).  You’ll end up with a really gorgeous smooth sauce and – here’s the bonus – no hint of anything green in there.

I love a bit of stealth health.  Off you go, then, team…

One of my favourite recipe books is a very old and slightly crusty ‘Curry Club’ book called 250 Favourite Curries and Accompaniments that my Mum bought me years ago.  I was searching high and low for it earlier as I’m currently suffering from a glut of courgettes, and knew that I’d seen a recipe for spicy fritters in there.  But no, it was nowhere to be seen (it’s since turned up, obviously the ‘where the f*ck has that gone?’ gremlin has finished with it now).

Anyhoo, I had a rough idea what do so, along with the help of the BBC Good Food website, which had a similar recipe for courgette fritters (not quite right, the courgettes were sliced), pretty much worked out how to do them.  And here they are (with apologies to the people of Northern India, who will no doubt be shaking their heads at my terrible and not very authentic version of one of their best-loved spicy snacks.

You will need:

Several courgettes (of varying sizes and comically rude shapes, if they’re anything like mine)

1 red onion, halved and finely sliced

1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

Large pinch salt

2 tsp curry powder (or you can make your own mix of the usual suspects: cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli, etc)

Chopped fresh coriander (big handful should do it)

150g self raising flour (or, to be more authentic, use half gram flour)*

Grate all the courgettes and place them in a sieve over a bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and leave for an hour or two.

You’ll be amazed at how much excess water they give up.  Discard the water and place the grated courgette into a bowl.

Add in the onion, chilli, salt, curry powder and coriander, break in the egg, then sprinkle over the flour.  Stir it all together as much as you can.

Now slowly add cold water, about a tablespoon at a time, until you’ve got a really thick paste (you’ll probably need around 100ml or so, but judge it by eye).

Leave this to one side while you heat up a wok or large saucepan with a good couple of inches of oil (groundnut is fine).  Once the oil is hot (for god’s sake be careful here) – you can test this by popping in a little bit of the batter and seeing if it sizzles – just drop in tablespoons of the batter and fry:

When the first side is a deep golden brown, flip them over in the oil and cook the other side:

Drain on kitchen paper and serve with a nice yoghurt and mint dip, or maybe some mango chutney.  Noms.

*Gram flour is made from ground chickpeas and also happens to be gluten free.  I didn’t have any, but I’m going to use it next time as I suspect it may give an even crisper result.

So that’s it, then.  The big day is shortly upon us and I’m looking forward to a small family Christmas (just us, English Grandma and maybe Mad Uncle Ali in the afternoon) at our new little house in Hertfordshire.

Wherever you are and whoever you’re with, I wish you all a wonderful, indulgent Christmas.

And as always, remember to chill out, have fun, stick on your glad rags, enjoy your precious loved ones, have a few cocktails, don’t shout at the children (or at least count to ten first), don’t worry about  your waistline, don’t drink and drive (I need you!), do give someone everyone you love a kiss under the mistletoe, say you love it even if you hate it, carry a hankie, say please and thank you, keep your hand on your ha’penny… and have a glass of champers on me.

Now, let me think what you might need:

Firstly, of course, you’ll need a really good festive cocktail recipe.  This little beauty was sent to me by naughty ol’ Maxi Cane.  It’s called ‘A Mouthful of Maxi’:

1 regular spirit measure (35ml) of Peach Schnapps.

1 dash (15ml approx) of orange liqueur (Triple Sec/Cointreau/Grand Marnier)

1 dash of Crème de Cassis liqueur (blackcurrant)

1 dash of Crème de Banane liqueur

200 – 250ml (depending on your taste) of cranberry juice

Shake well over crushed ice and take it easy – these babies are evil!

Now, if you can still stand up, to the dinner:

If you need any help with the turkey, just click here.

Remember, once the turkey’s cooked it’ll sit happily for at least an hour, covered in foil and tucked snugly under a couple of teatowels, while you cook the roasties, etc.

If you don’t like Christmas pudding, I can heartily recommend my chocolate fondants, and finally, if you need stuffing (ahem), then you can’t do better than my easy peasy apple and red onion stuffing (serves 4-6, double up as necessary):

1 tbsp butter

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 dessert apple, peeled and finely chopped

225g pork sausage meat

100g fresh white breadcrumbs

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped

Squeeze of lemon juice

1  Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5.  Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the onion and fry gently until soft.  Add the apple and cook until softened.  Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

2  Stir the sausage meat and breadcrumbs into the onion mixture along with the herbs and lemon juice.  Stir until well combined.  You can put a little in the neck end of the turkey (I’m not a fan of stuffing the main cavity – I think it stops the hot air circulating), or squish it into a buttered oven-proof dish and bake for 25 minutes.

Off you trot, then.  Big hugs, even bigger wet kisses and lots of love

xxxx

‘And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?
It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store?  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?’

So one of my happier experiments in the garden were these little beauties.  They did have a name, but I’ve bloody forgotten now, although I’m sure Poppy’s Mum or GrowUp, my gardening gurus, will let me know in due course.  Yesterday, then, we decided to pick one and test it out. 

‘Ooh’, said #1, ‘cauliflower cheese!’. 

‘Yum’, said I. 

‘Bleurgh’, said the other two. 

There’s no pleasing some people.

Here, then, are step by step guidelines to making your own creamy, cheesy sauce.  What you do with it is entirely up to you: stir it through pasta and bake for easy mac and cheese, use it to layer through your lasagne, pile it on thick toast and grill it…. frankly, you can smother yourself in it from head to toe if you like… be my guest.  Anyhoo, digressing.  Here she blows, then:

Firstly, make the cheese sauce:

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp plain flour

About 200g random cheese: I used Wexford Cheddar and Parmesan

400ml milk (ish)

Salt and pepper

Okay, so I know this is all sounding a bit random, but honestly it’s pretty hard to get this wrong.  Just melt a nice big tablespoon of butter in a saucepan on a low heat:

Then whop in your tablespoon of plain flour.  Keep stirring over a low heat while you ‘cook out’ the flour and make a nice smooth paste (or ‘roux’ if you’re feeling a bit cheffy):

Now slowly mix in the milk, stirring all the time.  As it bubbles, the mixture will thicken.  If it’s too thick, add a little more milk.  Season with a little salt and pepper (purists use white pepper so there’s no black bits) and that’s your basic white sauce.  To make it into a cheese sauce, just chop up and add in some random cheese:

I used Cheddar and Parmigiano, but you can use whatever takes your fancy.  Red Leicester makes it a pretty colour, and blue cheese makes a ridiculously good sauce for steak or pasta.  Word of advice, here, people, courtesy as usual of English Grandma: don’t grate the cheese – you’ll end up with a big clump that takes ages to melt – chunks melt far easier (I’m a mine of useless information, me).

Now, for cauliflower cheese, blanch your comedy vegetable by plunging into some boiling, salted water until just tender:

…pop into an ovenproof dish, pour over your cheesy sauce of choice, top with a little more grated cheese, and bake in the oven at good ol’ 180 degrees/gas 4 for about 20 minutes or until golden and bubbling:

Serve with some big, fat spicy sausages, or a roast dinner, or just on its own as an easy supper.  If you’re going for the full body masque, though, go steady on the pepper.

So the ongoing battle here at English Towers is between the chilli lovers and the not-so-chilli lovers.  Hubby and #1 would have us eating amounts of chilli that, frankly, would have normal people running madly around in circles, flapping their arms and making choo choo noises with steam coming out of their ears, whereas me and the small, accident-prone version can only handle a gentle amount of spice.  Pizza making is always contentious with the chilli monsters wanting whole slices of red chilli on theirs, and curries, frankly are a minefield.  This dhal, then, has had several incarnations – starting from the 2 tsp crushed chilli version that was truly, ridiculously, spasm-inducingly hot, to this version which is gently warming with a nice hit at the back of the throat.  But hey, if you’re a chilli thug, whop in the whole 2 tsp and warn the family to take a step back – it’s got a kick like a very cross mule:

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 scant tsp dried chilli (or 2 heaped tsp if you’re a chilli monster)

2 tbsp oil

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp grated ginger (I keep mine in the freezer and grate it from frozen)

750ml chicken stock

200g red split lentils

1 tsp garam masala

So firstly, take a dry frying pan, put it on a low heat and put in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and the dried chilli.  Let it toast very gently, stirring constantly, just until you see the very first bit of popping and your nose is filled with lovely toasty spicy smells.  Watch it carefully as it burns easily (oh and feel free to go ‘ooh’ and ‘ahhh’ at my immaculately clean hob – I’d just spent half an hour removing the remnants of the rice which boiled over just to piss me off): 

Bung the toasted spices into the pestle and mortar and grind them into a powder.  If you can’t be arsed with this bit (which makes an excellent dinner party showing off display), just use the mustard seeds as they are and use ground cumin, coriander and chilli instead.  It tastes just as nice (shhh).

Now, take a heavy-based pan and pour in the 2 tbsp oil.  Bung in the sliced onion, sprinkle with the salt and fry gently until softened.  Now add in the spice blend along with the turmeric, sugar and grated ginger, stirring well until it’s all pasty and combined.

Pour in the chicken stock and add in the red lentils.  Bung a lid on and leave to cook for about 20 minutes by which stage the lentils will be soft and fragrant.  Stir in the garam masala and taste for seasoning.

Serve with some easy cheaty flatbreads, or for a more substantial meal you can add the tandoori chicken and some basmati rice too.  Some nice raita made with plain yoghurt, grated cucumber and a handful of chopped fresh mint wouldn’t go amiss either.

This is another healthy recipe (blimey, that’s two in a row) and the veg quota can be easily oomphed up with, say, a couple of handfuls of spinach (I buy those bags of baby spinach and bung them straight in the freezer) or some chopped tomato.  I did it the other day with some roasted butternut squash and it was very nice indeed.  Just go steady with the chilli if you don’t want your guests doing the locomotion around the garden (whoop whoop!).

Righto, then, following swiftly on from the butternut squash risotto, here’s another curry that is used in so many different guises here at English Towers, I’m struggling to know which photos to use.  As you know, I’m a big fan of butternut squash, so here’s the basic recipe used with squash, but it’s equally good made with potatoes or cauliflower:

1 butternut squash, peeled and deseeded, cut into chunks (mine weighed about 700g)

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp dried chilli (or 1 tsp fresh chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped for extra zing)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp grated ginger (I grate mine straight from the freezer)

200ml chicken stock

1 tsp garam masala (don’t put this in until the end though)

1 tin chickpeas

Fresh coriander, roughly chopped

So heat the oil in a pan until very hot.  Add the onion along with all the spices (not the garam masala, this is more of a seasoning and should be added at the end).   I’m a bit random with the spices – I think this is roughly what I use, but I’ll see the Cumin seeds in with the spices and think ‘ooh, I’ll bung a few of them in’.  Still it always tastes okay…

When the onion starts to turn brown, add the chicken stock (or veg stock, obviously), and the chunks of squash (or potato or whatever), stir around and cover.  Turn the heat down low and leave the squash to soften for around 15 minutes.

Now stir in the drained chickpeas.  Leave to cook for five more minutes, then stir in the garam masala, sprinkle with the coriander and serve.

This basic spice mix is really versatile.  Leave out the squash and bung in a tin of tomatoes and a couple of handfuls of baby spinach, plus a can of any old pulses, or substitute dried lentils instead of the chickpeas (add at the same time as the squash, plus 100ml more water), or any other canned beans or pulses (or just leave them out and serve as a plain vegetable curry).  Here’s one I made with borlotti beans (I know, a weird Indian/Italian mixture, but hey, it tasted nice and I didn’t have any chickpeas):

There you have it.  On the subject of curries, anyone else have any favourites recipes?

I love butternut squash.  I love its sweetness, its softness, and its beautiful orangey colour.  I love risotto too, and the combination of both of them is one of my favourite meals.  I happened to mention to the lovely Matt, fellow blogger and ’Wine Evangelist’ (I love that title) at Curious Wines that I was going to knock up a butternut squash risotto and he very kindly offered to send me a couple of wines to taste with it.  ‘I can’t taste wine’, was my initial reaction, but with the promise of help and tasting notes, I felt much better.  Was I in?  Too bloody right I was.

#1′s homecoming from bleeding his Grandparents dry in England seemed a good enough time for a little celebration, so I put the vino on ice and set about making the butternut risotto: 

1 butternut squash

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

7 or 8 sage leaves, finely chopped

Butter

1 onion, finely chopped

350g risotto rice (arborio or carnaroli)

2 litres chicken stock

Parmesan, grated, and some for serving 

So preheat the oven to 200/gas 6.  Peel and deseed the squash and cut into cubes.  Spread the pieces out on a baking tray and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over about half of the finely chopped sage leaves:

Roast for about 30  mins or until soft and slightly caramelised.  You can do this in advance and allow the squash to cool, if you like:

For the risotto: allow the stock to come to a simmer in a saucepan, then keep warm on a low heat on the hob:

Grab a heavy based pan, put it on a low heat and melt a tablespoon of butter.  Glug in some olive oil (about 2 tbsp should do it), then gently fry the onion until it’s translucent (try my trick of adding a pinch of caster sugar to stop it browning too quickly).  Then add in the rice, stirring around until it’s all glossy.

Add half the squash and the finely chopped sage.  Now just keep adding ladlefuls of stock, one at a time, stirring constantly and making sure all the liquid is absorbed before adding another.  When all the stock is gone – this might take half an hour or so – the risotto should be nice and creamy, still with a teeny bit of bite to it.

Now add in the rest of the squash and stir in the rest of the sage (the smell is amazing).  Turn the heat off, have a quick taste and season generously, then stir in another knob of butter, and a handful of grated parmesan, put the lid on and leave it to sit until you’re ready to serve.  Finally, ladle the risotto into warm bowls, topping with some grated parmesan, and serve:

Now to the wine.  Our first contender was the Waipara Springs Premo Dry Riesling 2006 (€12.99 from Curious Wines), and wow did this baby surprise me.  I think the last time I tried Riesling it was some medium German shocker (you can read all about what Curious Wines’ Mike has to say about Riesling here), but this was amazing – so zingy it was almost fizzy on your tongue.  We’re no wine buffs, but could actually taste something citrusy, (#1 had a sip and reckoned he could taste grapefruit – and do you know what?  It was actually on the tasting notes – he’s far too young to be this good) and the crisp, acidity was a perfect foil for the creamy sweetness of the risotto.  Yum.

Onto the next one, then.  Next up was the Tussock Pinot Gris 2007 (€14.99 from Curious Wines).  You can read Matt’s notes about Pinot Gris here.  This was a different kettle of fish.  You could see instantly that it was much darker in colour, and for those of you who might find the Waipara Springs a little too sharp, this was much softer and really, really pleasant, although still retaining a crispness that again complemented the risotto perfectly.  Try as we might, though, our dodgy palettes couldn’t make out the promised pear/apple notes – but I think that was our fault rather than the wine –  and there was a lingering aftertaste that I can’t describe (help, Matt!) but that was absolutely delicious.  Although this was lovely with food, we could well imagine polishing this one off whilst tucked up on the sofa in front of Lie to Me.

Sadly, after finishing two bottles of wine between us, I can’t read many of my notes and lost one of the pieces of paper, but the Waipara Springs definitely came in the winner with an impressive score of 16/20.  So that’s it, then, my first ever wine tasting.  I’d like to thank Mike and Matt for their patience, copious notes, encouragement… and the free wine, oh and for the slightly giggly game of poker that followed.  Bless you.