Roasted Root Vegetable Gratin

I was writing out menus and shopping lists for Christmas the other day when I found myself mulling over the question of what to do with the leftover veg from lunch on Christmas Day. Sure… there’s always bubble and squeak; we’ve all been there and done that. But what about something a little different to have with your cold nut roast next day…such as a roasted root vegetable gratin? Ha, now there’s an idea!

Well, in the interests of research and not having any leftover veg about my person, I cooked a small pile of roasted roots yesterday and made a damn fine root veg gratin which we had for dinner last night. It was delicious; in fact, it was so good that we shamelessly polished off the lot between us before I'd even cooked the sausages that were supposed to go with it! Fact is, this can be used as a one-pot main course or, in smaller quantities, a side dish to a 'main event'.

The veg kept their individual flavours nicely and underneath the crispy topping there was just enough mustardy creaminess to bring the whole thing together; I will definitely be doing the same again on Boxing Day.

Actually, I’m really looking forward to Boxing Day, I always enjoy it a lot more than the whole palaver of Christmas Day – it’s so much more relaxed once all the fevered expectancy of the big day is over. A plate of nibbles, a bowl of nuts and a DVD and I’m a happy bunny. I'm easily pleased.

250g carrots
250g parsnips
200g celeriac
200g small new potatoes
2 medium onions
2tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
ground black pepper
4 tbsp crème fraiche
1 dsp grainy mustard
60g breadcrumbs
75g mature cheddar
25g pine nuts

Peel the carrots, parsnips and celeriac; cut into bite-size chunks. Cut the potatoes in half or quarters if they’re a bit big. Peel the onions and cut into eighths through the root.

Put all the veg into a large freezer bag with the olive oil, thyme and a few grinds of black pepper; hold the end securely closed and shake to coat the veg all over. Tip into a large roasting tin and roast at 200C for about 25 minutes.

(Obviously, if you're cooking this with leftovers, you can skip the instructions above)

Mix the crème fraiche and grainy mustard together in a large bowl then add the cooked veg and mix well to coat. Tip the mustardy veg into an ovenproof dish; grate the cheese then mix the breadcrumbs, cheese and pine nuts together and scatter evenly over the veg.

Bake at 200C for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy.

Champ

Just a quick, brief post to show you what we had for dinner one night last week – Champ…god, it was lovely. We had it with Cauldron Lincolnshire sausages and mushroom gravy – although, to be perfectly honest, I’d have been quite happy to have had it on its own accompanied only by a very large spoon!

It was fabulous; one of those things that cheers you up no end when a bit of cold weather comfort food is required.

500g floury potatoes
75ml hot milk
40g butter, melted
1/2 bunch spring onions
black pepper








Peel and chop the potatoes into large chunks and steam or simmer until tender; mash well with hot milk and stir in the finely chopped spring onions and a good grinding of pepper.

Pile the potato into a warmed serving dish and make a shallow well in the middle; pour in the warm melted butter. Serve immediately and try to avoid licking the dish clean!

Serves 2.

Potato, Three Bean and Sesame Salad

I feel I should warn you I’m typing this with one eye on the telly watching Andy Murray playing Ivo Karlovic at Wimbledon; if I wander off into incoherency at least you’ll know why!

I thought you might like to see a pic of some of our ‘Swift’ potatoes which we dug up two days ago. The rest of the veg patch is still a bit hit and miss but at least the spuds have enjoyed the rain. Despite the recent awful weather we seem to be having three days of summer at the moment (I hope this isn’t all we get!) so a potato salad seemed like a good idea yesterday.

This one is based on a recipe by Michel Roux I saw mentioned on a messageboard, but I changed it around slightly; I was doubtful about the sesame dressing, but I thought this Michel bloke can cook a bit and probably knows what he’s about (ha!) so I decided to go with it. Good call…the dressing was fabulous; sweet, sharp and tangy all at once.

(Incidentally, Andy has just beaten Karlovic in four sets...good man!)

400g new potatoes

100g frozen edamame beans
100g frozen baby broad beans
100g fine green beans
½ a red onion, finely sliced
small handful fresh coriander leaves

2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
juice of 2 lemons
black pepper

Chop the potatoes into bite-size chunks and boil or steam until just tender; drain and plunge into cold water then drain again.

Top and tail the green beans and cut into thirds. Put all three types of bean in half an inch of boiling water in a small pan, bring them back to the boil and simmer for three minutes. Drain, plunge into cold water and drain again.

Put the potatoes, beans, red onion and half the coriander leaves in a large bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl, drizzle over the salad and mix gently with your hands so as not to break the potatoes.

Scatter the remaining coriander leaves over the salad before serving.

Served 2 for dinner with some left to have on the side with a sandwich next day.

Leek and Potato Soup

Cooking has sort of fallen by the wayside for almost a couple of weeks; I started off with a cold then managed to pick up a stomach bug (deep joy!) and I've now got another cold; when I cough I sound like a sealion…so attractive!

I’ve just about cleaned out all the soups I had stored in the freezer – I seem to have lived on soup and toast recently – so I’ve had a soup-making session in the kitchen this morning. Leek and potato is very comforting and easy on a delicate tum whilst tomato and red lentil should pep up my poor old jaded tastebuds.

Two weeks ago I was planning to make my Christmas cake and do a bit a baking for the freezer; hopefully next week I shall return to the land of the living and get cracking.

Early night for me I think.

25g butter

4 medium leeks

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 large floury potato, peeled and diced

1l stock

1tbsp crème fraiche

a little chopped parsley

Melt the butter gently in a large saucepan; trim off the greenest part of the leeks (keep it for making stock) then finely chop the rest of the leeks and add them to the pan along with the chopped onion and diced potato. Turn the vegetables to coat them with the melted butter, put the lid on and let them sweat over a very low heat for 15 minutes. Add the stock and bring to the boil; simmer gently for a further 15 minutes.

Blitz the soup like billy-o with a stick blender until it’s silky smooth then stir in the crème fraiche.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve piping hot.

Mushroom Stroganoff with Rosti

I make mushroom stroganoff quite a bit; it’s quick and easy for those times when you want something really tasty but you don’t want to faff about too much. No fancy ingredients, just storecupboard stuff; I use crème fraiche because I like the slightly sharp tanginess of it and it’s less likely to split, but most recipes use cream so, if you have half a pot of cream hanging around in the fridge that you want to use up, feel free to sub that instead.

I usually serve stroganoff with rice but the husband requested we have it with rosti because he’d seen a recipe in a magazine. Now, I have a difficult relationship with rosti, they never quite do what I expect them to; although, to be fair, I’m not sure exactly what I do expect. (Incidentally, does the plural of rosti need an 's'?)

These ones were better than any I’ve made previously, but I still think there’s room for improvement. Next time I think I’ll add a small grated onion and just make one large rosti each. I can then serve the stroganoff on top; a bit like mushrooms on toast….without the toast!

25g butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

250g chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

4 tbsp crème fraiche

25ml white wine

chopped parsley to sprinkle

2 large floury potatoes

ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Parboil the potatoes in their skins for about 15 minutes; drain and allow to cool. This can be done in advance or even the day before if you like.

Grate the potatoes coarsely into a large bowl, add plenty of black pepper and mix well; set aside until you’re ready to cook the rosti.

Melt the butter in a large pan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes; add the thickly sliced mushrooms and cook until almost all the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated; add the paprika, thyme and white wine. Stir well and cook for a minute or two then add the crème fraiche. Take off the heat and keep warm while you cook the rosti.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (I used two small pans). Place four large spoonfuls of the grated potato in the pan and flatten slightly with a spatula. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden.

Divide the rosti and stroganoff between two warmed plates and sprinkle with plenty of chopped parsley.

Serves 2

Courgette Soup

As you know, I love soup in all its guises; we eat it all year round but I like to vary the type of soup to suit the season. This is a nice summery variety which looks terribly green, worthy and ‘good for you’, but don’t let that put you off. It’s a little stunner and a very worthwhile recipe to have to hand when the garden gives up its usual glut of courgettes in July and August and you're tearing your hair because you don't know what to do with the blasted things!

I wonder why it is I can never grow just enough courgettes; why do I always get snowed under with them? It's one of life's little mysteries...

1 tbsp olive oil

500g courgettes, washed and chopped

1 large floury potato, peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves

1l vegetable stock (Marigold Bouillon)

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp chopped chives

1 tbsp creme fraiche

Saute the courgettes, potatoes, onion, thyme leaves and garlic in the olive oil, without colouring, for 10 mins. Add the stock and simmer until all the vegetables are tender. Blitz with a stick blender until really smooth then stir in the chopped herbs and crème fraiche. Reheat gently and serve hot with a few garlic croutons and lots of crusty bread.

Serves 4 - 6

Homity Pasties

I’ve been thinking about picnic food; (that'll be the kiss of death, of course, in terms of the weather; it'll do nothing but rain solidly for the next three months, now!) in particular, I’ve been trying to think of a pasty filling that wouldn’t fall out all over me as soon as I took a bite and it also had to taste good eaten cold and be easily transportable. Well, it was so obvious, it was staring me in the face....Homity Pasties! Brainwave! 

I used shortcrust pastry to wrap up almost the same filling I use for Homity Pies and that was all there was to it. If I’m honest I should have sealed the edges a bit better or maybe I should have put a bit less filling in; you can see a bit of leakage on one or two of them, but I think it adds to the nice rustic feel of them and anyway, who expects perfect food on a picnic?

225gm potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

1 cloves garlic, crushed

1tbsp olive oil

small handful of parsley, chopped.

75gm grated mature cheddar

ground black pepper

450g block of shortcrust pastry

1 egg, beaten

Boil or steam the potatoes until tender. Chop onions finely and saute in the olive oil with the garlic until lightly browned. In a large bowl combine the cooked potatoes and onions; add the parsley and the cheese. Mix well, season with black pepper and leave to cool.

Roll out the pastry to a large rectangle and, using a large saucer or small plate, cut out six circles. Put a heaped tablespoon of the cooled filling on one half of each of the circles then fold the pastry over and crimp the edges together with a fork.

Make three slashes in the top of each pasty then brush well with beaten egg. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 200C until golden.

Makes 6.

Vegetable Beanpot Soup

Well, it must have been something I said! No sooner do we get a few days of sunshine, sending my mind wandering to salads and warm weather food, than it turns cold again and I start thinking of soup! The joys of the British weather…

I seem to have been making this soup forever; it’s the one I return to again and again, firstly because we love it and secondly it’s made with standard store cupboard items so the ingredients are always to hand.

Just had a nice bowlful for lunch with some tomato bread – went down a treat…

1 large onion, chopped small

2 large carrots, chopped small

2 sticks of celery, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and diced

10 chestnut mushrooms, chopped small

1 tbsp olive oil

1 dsp tomato puree

1 lt veg stock

1 tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed

1 dsp Worcester sauce (a veggie one, obviously!)

½ tsp curry paste

½ tsp Marmite

Put all the veg into a large saucepan, add the oil and fry over a medium heat for five minutes. Add the tomato puree and the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Put half the beans and half the hot soup in another pan and blend until smooth with a stick blender. Add the smooth soup to the chunky soup then add the rest of the beans, Worcester sauce, curry paste and Marmite. Reheat gently. Eat and enjoy.

Serves 4 and freezes well

Paneer and Peas

I'm just going to have a little moan about something that's been giving me the pip for a while now.

It used to be just the overpaid cheffy types on TV, but I see the media has now taken up the ‘cooking from scratch’ mantra and I keep seeing people on food forums banging on about it as well; it seems to have become the new foodie religion and woe betide you if you don't join in. Don't get me wrong - I cook every day and I very rarely buy ready meals or convenience foods, but I don't get hung up about making absolutely everything myself. However, an awful lot of people would have you believe they grow their own wheat, mill their own flour and churn their own butter with the milk from the cow they keep at the end of the garden! They're almost evangelical in their self-righteous fervour and they're getting right up my nose!

On a forum the other day somebody mentioned a jar of *shock…horror* curry sauce which he'd found very tasty. Well, the 'knit your own broccoli' brigade came down on him like a ton of bricks - you'd have thought he'd committed some heinous crime when, actually, all he'd done was cook himself a nice curry.

Now, I'm partial to a nice curry myself but I don’t keep umpteen different Indian spices in the pantry, all lovingly ground by my own fair hand, because to be perfectly honest I can’t be bothered. I use a reliable good quality curry paste and I don’t feel in the slightest bit guilty about it; only, keep it to yourself for God's sake or I'll have the food police beating a path to the front door!!

Right, now I've got that off my chest....back to last night’s dinner; this is my take on Paneer and Peas, which is a great dish in its own right, but I had some mushrooms and spinach hanging around in the fridge so I threw those in as well. It was one of those ‘clear out the veg drawer’ meals but it worked really well – I make no claims about its authenticity but it tasted pretty damned good!

small knob of butter
2 onions, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 largish potato, peeled and chopped
1 tsp black onion seeds
1 heaped tbsp Patak's Tikka Masala curry paste
1 tin chopped tomatoes
100ml water
220gm pack of paneer, chopped into 1cm cubes
200gm frozen peas
3 good handfuls of baby spinach
1 tsp Garam Masala
small bunch of coriander, chopped

Saute the onions and garlic gently in the butter in a large pan for 5-10 minutes. Add the black onion seeds and potatoes and saute for a further 5 minutes. Add the curry paste, tomatoes and water, stir well and bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the paneer, peas and Garam Masala, simmer for 5 mins then add the spinach and allow to wilt. Take off the heat and stir in the chopped coriander just before serving. Garnish with extra chopped coriander and serve with rice.

Potato, Onion and Cheese Frittata

This is a recipe I never thought I'd post because until six weeks ago I hadn’t eaten a recognisable egg in about 40 years!

There was just something about them that I couldn’t handle; I was fine if they were disguised in a quiche or a cake, but an egg that was quite clearly an egg was a no-no. I never really understood why, but that’s just the way I was. During all these years of not eating them I have quite happily used eggs as a cooking ingredient; I have also scrambled, fried, boiled and poached them and made numerous omelettes for others…but never for me. So, on December 31st I rather rashly made a New Year’s resolution to stop being such a wuss and at least try to eat eggs; other people I know have no problem with them so what was I faffing about at? Get a grip, woman!

Having decided that something not too recognisably eggy (!) was the best route to take, I made a mushroom omelette one evening with two of the organic free-range variety. Taking a deep breath, and telling myself sternly it was ‘just a quiche without the pastry’, I took a forkful and it was really rather good; in fact, I ate the entire thing!

Since then I haven’t looked back; true, I haven’t yet progressed to eating eggs boiled, fried or poached (they’re still a bit too eggy!) but I can now cook something that everyone else has been eating since Adam was a lad…Frittata. Potato, onion and cheese Frittata to be exact and, although I never thought to hear myself say this, it was delicious!

1 smallish red onion
1 smallish white onion
2 tbsp olive oil
200g of sliced cooked potato
4 large eggs
30g grated cheddar
ground black pepper

Peel and slice the onions and cook gently in the olive oil in a small frying pan until golden. Tip the potato into the pan and mix well with the onions. Lightly beat the eggs with a tablespoon of cold water and a couple of grinds of black pepper then pour into the frying pan, lower the heat and cook for 6-8 minutes until almost set. Turn the grill on; sprinkle the cheese onto the frittata then put under the grill until the top is set and golden.

Serves 4 with salad and a chunk of good bread.

Homity Pies

What’s your favourite comfort food? What do you eat when it's been 'one of those days'? Well, some folk dive into a large bar (or two!) of Green & Black's or a tub of Haagen-Dazs, but as it happens I'm not that keen on either chocolate or ice-cream; for comfort eating I need serious carbs and plenty of 'em. Bring on the Homity Pies; pastry, potatoes and cheese....ooh yes, I'm feeling better already!

Now although this is quite obviously not health food, it is good for you in other ways; it's inexpensive, it's simplicity itself to make and it is guaranteed to give solace to the most battered heart and soul.

Homity Pie is a traditional English dish that was popular when times were hard and people couldn't afford to eat meat - perfect food for a veggie, in fact! There are probably 1001 recipes for it on the net but this is my version. If you don't manage to eat all 6 at once (!) the cooked pies freeze really well - just defrost and refresh in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

I usually serve these with lots of fresh veg in order to kid myself that I'm offsetting the carb and calorie overload. However, if things are really dire, forget the veg and just have another pie...


450gm potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks
3 large onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1tbsp olive oil
25gm butter
Large handful of parsley, chopped.
150gm grated mature cheddar
ground black pepper
6 uncooked 10cm pastry cases (I use ready-made)


Boil or steam the potatoes until tender. Chop onions finely and saute in the olive oil with the garlic until lightly browned. In a large bowl combine the cooked potatoes and onions; add the butter, parsley and half the cheese. Mix well and season with black pepper. Cool, then fill the pastry cases and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Place pies on a baking sheet and bake at 200C for about 25mins until golden.

Makes 6 individual pies or a 20cm pie if you prefer.

P.S. I forgot to mention that today is National Pie Day in the USA. I just love the idea that a country can have its own "American Pie Council"? Priceless!

Spicy Veg and Lentil Casserole

Last night's dinner was a rather tasty casserole; it was all a bit spur of the moment, but for some reason I was feeling short on inspiration and nothing seemed to appeal. There were loads of bits and pieces in the fridge that needed using up, so I got the whole lot out on the worktop to see what I could come up with. It turned into a fragrant veg casserole that cheered up a wet Saturday night no end and was very nice indeed.

I would have served it with naans if I'd had any in the freezer but onion bhajis provided a pretty good substitute. Incidentally, I know the list of ingredients looks as long as your arm but it's mostly store-cupboard stuff; nothing too tricky.


½ a small butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
12 small new potatoes, halved
1 large onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
100g small chestnut mushrooms
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
450mls veg stock
100g red lentils
100g french beans cut into 1inch pieces
100g frozen peas
1 tsp garam masala
handful of fresh coriander, chopped finely

Prepare the first seven vegetables, put into a very large pan with the olive oil and saute gently for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, turmeric, cumin, coriander, mustard seeds and chilli flakes and stir for a minute or two until the spices become fragrant. Add the tinned tomatoes and the stock, give everything a really good stir and bring to the boil; simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the red lentils and simmer for another 15 mins (you may need to add a bit more stock). Add the French beans, frozen peas and garam masala, bring back to the boil and simmer for another 5 mins.

Stir in the chopped coriander before serving with naans (or, in my case, onion bhajis!)

Serves 4 generously

Shepherd's Pie....

.....for vegetarian Shepherds!

Well, the winter has certainly arrived – it’s flippin’ freezing out there! With snow forecast for the weekend and temperatures supposedly not creeping above 0°C, I think the best thing is to stay indoors and cook!

I made a couple of trays of mince pies this afternoon to put in the freezer for Christmas and then set-to on something warming for dinner tonight. I’ve tried making Shepherd's pie with beans and lentils, but to be honest I like my veggie mince version best; it’s a common or garden midweek meal, but the addition of cheesy leek mash really lifts it out of the ordinary.

Just right for a cold wintry night.


1 onion, peeled and chopped
100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1tbsp plain flour
1 tin chopped tomatoes
200ml stock
a good shake of Worcester sauce
150g Realeat Soya Vegemince
4 large King Edward potatoes (or other floury potato)
1 leek, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
100g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

On a medium heat fry the onion and mushrooms in the olive oil for 5 minutes; stir in the flour then add the tomatoes, stock, Worcester sauce and the Vegemince. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 15 minutes and set aside.

Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks and boil or steam until tender. Meanwhile, fry the chopped leeks in the oil until golden. Drain and mash the potatoes then add half the grated Cheddar and the leeks and mix into the mash.

Put the vegemince mixture in an ovenproof dish and cover with the mash. Fluff up the surface of the mash with a fork and sprinkle liberally with the rest of the cheese. Bake at 200C for 15-20 minutes until the top is golden.

I like green beans and glazed carrots with this; the husband likes it with baked beans...I'll leave it up to you.