Autumn Vegetable Cobbler

The weather has been really chilly this last few days; all very autumnal with a promise of winter in the air.

The raised beds in the garden, which were groaning under the weight of assorted vegetables during the summer, are now almost empty and looking a bit sorry for themselves. We pulled up the last of the carrots at the weekend and I also pulled a couple of leeks to see how they were getting on; I’ll leave the rest of them there to use up throughout the winter. I can feel plenty of leek and potato soup coming on…

I’ve been looking for ways to expand my new-found scone know-how (I’m so chuffed with myself…you’ve no idea!) and was thrilled to be able to cook a cobbler for the first time. Along with the handful of carrots and leeks I’d collected from the garden there were sundry other veg in the fridge so I used a few mushrooms, a couple of sticks of celery and a solitary sweet potato to make a rather nifty autumnal dinner that will definitely be making further appearances in future.

**If you’re luckier than me the vegetable casserole base will all stay in the dish rather than bubbling up, running down the side of the dish and burning on the bottom of the blasted oven!

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 leeks, well washed and cut into chunks
2 sticks of celery, chopped

150g chestnut mushrooms, halved

½ tsp dried thyme

1tbsp olive oil

1tbsp plain flour

350ml stock

2 tsp Worcester sauce

½ tsp Marmite

1 dsp tomato puree

100g self-raising flour

25g butter

½ tsp baking powder

75g grated mature cheddar

½ tsp dried thyme

75ml buttermilk (you may not need all of it)

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the veg for 10 minutes; stir in the flour and gradually add the stock followed by the Worcester sauce, Marmite and tomato puree. Bring to the boil, pop a lid on and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the cobbler topping, mix the flour and baking powder together then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the thyme and ⅔ of the cheese then mix in enough of the buttermilk to form a very soft dough. Pat the dough out on a floured surface to form a small circle about 2.5cm thick. Cut out 4 small scones with a 5.5cm plain cutter. Heat the oven to 200C.

When the vegetable mixture is cooked transfer it to a small ovenproof dish and put the four scones on top; sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and risen.

 

Serves 2

Moroccan Veggie Parcels with Aubergine Sauce

I made these little parcels last Sunday; we had three people round for lunch and I didn’t want to do a nut roast or similar – I was after a lighter, more summery type of thing. For some reason I broke my golden rule, the one I’ve stuck to all my life, and cooked something that I had never cooked before! I always have a dry-run of a new recipe before I unleash it onto guests but, in this instance, I can only assume I had a rush of blood to the head or possibly a severe attack of over-confidence….whatever it was, I must be mad!

In the event it all turned out rather well; I chose a Simon Rimmer recipe, which used to be on the BBC website but which has now been deleted (grrr!), but luckily I have a crafty copy on Word. I served it with tomato, olive and almond couscous and a leafy salad.

Moroccan Veggie Parcels

For the filling

1kg/2lb 3oz cooked sweet potato, cut into cubes

100g/3½oz chickpeas

100g/3½oz spinach

2 onions, sliced, fried in a little oil until softened

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

pinch chilli flakes

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp runny honey

1 tbsp chopped dried apricots

1 tbsp flaked toasted almonds

300g/10½oz ready-rolled puff pastry, cut into 6 x 15cm/6in squares

2 free-range eggs, beaten

flour, for dusting

For the aubergines

2 aubergines, cut into 1.5cm/½in thick strips

100ml/4fl oz olive oil

1 tbsp tomato purée

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 garlic, crushed

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and dust a baking tray with flour.

2. Mix all of the filling ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Shape the mixture into six equally-sized balls. Place a ball into the middle of each square of pastry and wrap the pastry around the filling. Flatten slightly, brush with the egg wash and chill in the fridge for ten minutes.

3. Place the parcels onto the floured baking tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden-brown.

4. Meanwhile, heat 50ml/2oz of the olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the aubergine pieces for five minutes.

5. Stir in the tomato purée, tomatoes, garlic and cumin and cook on a low heat for 25 minutes.

6. Add the rest of the olive oil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for a further five minutes, stir in the parsley and serve alongside the pastry parcels.

Now, far be it from me to criticise Simon, but I think when I make it next time I’ll give it a few refinements:

• Double the chilli flakes in the filling to give it a bit more zing
• Halve the amount of sweet potato, it made far too much filling for only six parcels
• Double the chopped apricots because they got a bit lost in amongst all the other flavours
• I should point out that I used a tin of chopped tomatoes because I thought the sauce would be a bit dry with just three fresh toms to provide the ‘sauciness’ and I also chopped the aubergines into chunks rather than strips

None of this is meant to suggest that they weren't fine as they are, it's just that I always mess around with recipes when I've made them once, to bring them into line with our particular taste. Our guests are omnivores, but they were very complimentary and I don’t think (?!) they were just being polite. On the whole I’d say it was very successful and definitely one to do again. The aubergine sauce was brilliant; I think it would make a good filling for lasagne...must give it a try.

Serves 6

Fragrant Sweet Potato Soup

Well, it’s a week to go until Christmas Day and it’s snowing like blazes! The temperature this morning was -8°C....that was outside, I hasten to add, not inside! Half the country seems to have come to a standstill, with many roads and some airports closed, but thankfully I have no reason at all to go out today.

I never need an excuse to make soup, but weather like this is positively calling out for soup and plenty of it! Something warming and spicy to lift the spirits and buck up the tastebuds; add some nice bread and maybe a chunk of cheese and you have a lunch fit for a king (or possibly three kings, given the time of year!)


1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tsp Madras curry paste (or more to taste)
800g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1l vegetable stock (Marigold Bouillon)
75ml coconut milk
ground black pepper
small bunch of coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then soften the onion and garlic over a gentle heat for 4-5 mins. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 min. Add the sweet potato and stock then bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15-20 mins until the potatoes are tender.

Remove from the heat, stir in the coconut milk, then blitz like billy-o with a stick blender until absolutely smooth. Sprinkle with coriander and a few grindings of black pepper before serving.

Serves 4-6