Cream of butternut squash & sweet potatoes with hazelnuts and crispy sage

 

 

Definitely the best one I have ever made. Not fabulously bright orange in colour, as I caramelised the edges of the vegetables to get this really deep flavour. And this I guess, is the secret of this soup and what makes it really fantastic. Sage, pumpkin, nuts - such a classic combination.

Serves 2-4

300g butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and flesh diced into about 2cm cubes (weight after peeling and de-seeding)

300g sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into about 2cm cubes (weight after peeling)

2 garlic cloves, unpeeled

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of chilli powder

5-6 tbsp olive oil

1 large shallot, peeled and diced

about 900ml vegetable stock

handful of whole hazelnuts

about 8-12 whole sage leaves

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 180C.

Place the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, garlic in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle with little nutmeg, chilli, salt and pepper and roast until potatoes and squash are soft and caramelized on the edges. Remove from the oven and leave it to cool down, You can roast the vegetables night before and refrigerate them. I did it because I was baking something else and had preheated oven - it saves time and energy. 

On a low heat fry the shallot in a pan in 2 tbsp olive oil for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add roasted vegetables, and squeeze the garlic out of its skins and add to the pan. Stir and add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for about  3-5 minutes. Remove from a heat, liquidise with a hand blender and then sieve the soup using a fine sieve and ladle - this will make it even more smooth and make sure any unpleasant bits will not end up in the soup. Season with salt and pepper.

Fry the hazelnut on a dry pan until slightly browned then remove from a pan, place on a chopping board, leave then to cool down slightly and chop roughly.

Using the same pan heat the remaining olive oil and fry whole sage leaves for about one minute, until crispy.

Place the soup in a serving bowls/soup plates, sprinkle with the hazelnuts and top with few sage leaves. Drizzle with little of the sage oil. Serve with good bread.

Bread, onion & cabbage bake

Cabbage again. This is my typical veg for Autumn-Winter time, and apart from being filling, tasty and comforting it is also on the cheaper side.

I cooked this dish according to a recipe from my new favourite cookbook (well, didn't follow the exact quantities). This is something that my Polish soul fell in love with immediately, but I also came across Italian inspired recipe for soup using very similar ingredients. 

I prepared two versions, one vegan for myself and other with some extra bacon - for my hard working partner. This however is meat free version and you can adjust it accordingly to your preferences.

Swaps? Use kale or Swiss chard instead of a cabbage.

Extras by Hugh? A sharp cheese such as mature Cheddar or Gruyere sprinkled on each layer of bread would be nice addition and make this more filling.

Extras by me? Add fried bacon cubes to the cabbage or sprinkle the dish with bacon on a plate.

Serves 2-4

8 tbsp olive oil

3 medium onions, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 medium cabbage, quartered, core removed, cabbage shredded into about 1cm slices 

half French baguette, robust, good quality, stale (or sourdough bread) cut into about 2cm cubes

400mlhot vegetable stock

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Fry the onion in 4 tbsp olive oil on a low heat for about 15 minutes. Then add garlic, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Boil a bog pan of water, add some salt and the cabbage, cook for about 4 minutes, then drain and leave it to steam for a while. 

Place diced bread in a bowl and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat the oven to 180 C.

Layer the ingredients in an ovenproof dish starting with onion, then bread and cabbage. The number of layers depends on how deep your dish is, I only managed to get two layers of each ingredient. Make sure you top it up with layer of bread. Add little salt and pepper between each layer. pour the hot stock over the dish making sure the bread cubes on the top soak some of it. Cover with kitchen foil and place in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for further 15 minutes or until golden on the top and stock has nearly evaporated. Remove from the oven and leave it to rest for about 10 minutes, then divide into portions and serve.

Red cabbage with black pudding, apples & hazelnuts

Recent recipe, so sorry I am late again with English version, two more to come that should have been done ages ago and every so often I wonder if I should stop writing this blog. :/

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This is a recipe from some ancient "Good Food" magazine and today I am not even entirely sure if this is exactly how I should have made it. I also wasn't too sure if it looked good enough to photograph it. As much as I love the ingredients and these all seemed like a perfect harmony to me, when I plated this dish I thought to myself: what a mess. I took photographs, we sat and ate our dinner, really enjoyed it and after couple hours I went back to my computer to see the photographs and decided I was too harsh at first. Considering this is a cabbage dish and they never look in as fantastic as some Michelin starred and styled ones (well not in my kitchen anyway!) this is actually quite attractive looking one. It is surly great Autumnal dish whether you like the way it looks or not, you should try it.  

Serves 2-4

1 small red cabbage, core removed, cabbage shredded not too finely
2 small sharp apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
4 bacon rashers (I used smoked streaky)
4 slices of black pudding
handful of hazelnuts
pinch of brown sugar
1 tbsp of sunflower oil
1 tbsp of butter 

1 tbsp cider vinegar
2tbsp olive oil
1 level tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp of honey
salt
freshly ground pepper

In a large pan heat the oil and add shredded cabbage with little salt, stir fry for about 5 minutes and then add 3-5 tbsp of water, stir, cover and simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave covered so I doesn't cool down too much.

Prepare the dressing. Whisk olive oil, cider vinegar, mustard, some salt and pepper in a bowl, then set aside.

Dry roast the hazelnuts in a frying pan until slightly browned and then set aside on a chopping board. Chop roughly and leave them to use later.

In the same pan fry bacon witout adding any extra fat until browned and crispy. Move the bacon on the side of the pan (or just spoon it out, I didn't want to use another dish), and in the bacon fat fry black pudding slices - British black pudding needs about 2-3 minutes each side.

Meanwhile in another pan melt the butter, add apples and sprinkle with sugar. Fry until slightly browned, caramelised on the edges (about 5 minutes).

Place warm cabbage into the bowl with the dressing and mix. Adjust the seasoning - add some salt and pepper if required. Divide between warm plates, sprinkle with bacon, add caramelised apples and top with slices of black pudding. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. 

You can serve it as a starter or like us add some potatoes roasted in duck fat and eat it as a main course. 

Steak tartare

This is something that I remember from my childhood, very popular party dish when I was a kid, for adults quite often served with a shot of very cold vodka. Couldn't quite grasp why people would eat raw meat, but once I got older I actually started to enjoy it. I think it was at least eight years since last time I ate it and then suddenly I had cravings for this dish last week.

Many Polish cooks would just mince fillet of beef. For me this is a crime. It is quite pricey, and by mincing it you destroy it's delicate texture. You may as well get cheap cut of lean beef and mince it, why do it to expensive fillet? Honestly I don't get it. So chop it finely, yet to the stage when you can still feel some texture under your teeth. Secondly, traditionally in Poland people would use onion, for me onion has too strong flavour and can overpower the flavour of beef. I use more subtle shallots. I would normally use diced pickled mushrooms but these are difficult to get hold of where I live, so I skipped them. I added cornichons and capers. I would advise to not to use strong flavoured oil, but something with a delicate flavour, mild olive oil or rapeseed oil. To enhance the beef flavour it is good to add some anchovies, and my last word: I never use mustard - I think it kills the meat flavour.  

So this is my take on this traditional dish.

Serves 2 

about 300g fillet of beef

1 small shallot (I used French variety, if British you need two)

2 medium cornichons (gherkins)

2 tbsp of salted capers

1 tbsp olive oil

2 small egg yolks (you can use quail eggs) 

4 anchovies (tinned or from a jar)

freshly ground black pepper

salt

Slice beef fillet into about 3mm slices and then chop into small dice. You can go again with a knife over the chopped meat, but do it roughly. Add minced anchovies (mince it with a side of a knife or a fork), some pepper and mix, adjust the saltiness by adding some salt according to your taste, but remember this dish will get more salty when you mix it with capers.

Peel the shallot and dice finely. Dice the gherkins and rinse the capers thoroughly under a running water then drain and chop roughly.

Place cooking ring on a plate and place one layer of meat then one layer of gherkins or caper or shallots, then again layer of meat and layer of next ingredient. Finish off with a layer of meat and make a little well in the centre. Gently place egg yolk in the well and sprinkle with some pepper and salt (optionally). Make sure you save some gherkins, shallots and caper for the finishing touch.

Using oil make three lines across the plate and place some gherkins, shallots and capers in each line. Remove the ring and serve immediately with good bread and optionally with a shot of good quality very cold vodka.

My favourite sandwiches

This is one of them and there will be some more coming up some time in the future.

I like bacon & avocado sandwich, but Hugh came up with an idea of putting cheddar and mayo into this duo. I skipped mayo and added vintage cheddar to bacon and avocado and guess what? This is my new favourite sandwich. I used my everyday bread that I shared my recipe for some time ago, but this time made with white and wholewheat flour (and as usual rye starter).

2 slices of bread, slightly toasted

½ avocado, flesh scooped out and sliced or mashed

2 bacon rashers (I used back and unsmoked bacon), grilled in the oven or fried

2 slices of mature (or vintage) cheddar

I don't have to give you a method, do I? ;)

Have a lovely Sunday!