"It's too Orangey for Crows!"

Today I made a Butternut Squash and Carrot 'Cobbler' for dinner. It's the same recipe as my father's friend cooked for us when we were in Wales, and is meant to be done in a slow cooker, but I don't have one so I decided to just make it as a casserole. I also realised, half way through, that with the amount of veg I had, if I were to make the topping as well, it would probably feed a family of four, for two nights running! So I have now renamed this dish: Butternut Squash and Carrot Cobble-less Cobbler! The original recipe calls for blue cheese in the topping, which could be easily veganised, but for tonight I decided to do without. It would be just as nice eaten with some bread or brown scones.

The result is a perfectly sweet, tasty, super-bright-orange casserole. I didn't cook it for as long as it recommended so the carrots still had a bit of a bite to them, which I was happy with as I don't like my veg completely soggy.

Casserole ingredients:

1 whole onion, diced
500g butternut squash or pumpkin, deseeded and diced
500g carrots, diced
400g canned chopped tomatoes
250ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon of caster sugar (optional)
Season with a pinch of salt, pepper & rosemary to taste

For the topping:

150g (5oz) self-raising flour
pinch of salt
50g (2oz) butter
75g (3oz) blue cheese, diced
4 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary
4 tablespoons of water

Method:

1. Preheat the slower cooker if necessary. Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until lightly browned.

2. Add the squash, carrots, tomatoes, stock, sugar and seasoning. Bring to the boil, stirring.

3. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the slow cooker pot. Cover with the lid and cook on 'high' for 2.5-3 hours until the vegetables are tender.

4. Meanwhile, make the topping. Put the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the cheese ans rosemary, if using, then stir in enough of the water to make a smooth, soft, dough.

5. Pat the dough into a round 18cm (7 inches) in diameter then cut into 8 segments. Arrange these on top of the vegetable mixture. Replace the cooker lid and cook for another 30 minutes until the pastry is well risen and puffy. If the slow cooker pot fits under your grill, brown the topping before serving.

If anyone out there has a savoury cobbler topping recipe that is vegan, without the cheese, please let me know. Maybe the dough would still be ok without the cheese? I'll have to try it next time and report back!

Thank You Lovely Boyfriend!

Look what my very kind boyfriend made for me today (he'll even hack through an extremely tough butternut squash for me, that's how much he cares)!

My friend Jacqui has been raving about how amazing butternut squash chips are - a weight watchers zero point alternative for potato chips / fries, for the calorie conscious amongst us - so I bought one and thought we should give it a go. Our oven takes so much longer to cook anything than any other oven known to man, so they weren't as crispy as they should have been as I was very impatient to eat, but they were still incredibly tasty tossed in some Kentucky fried chicken style spices, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and dipped in sweet chilli sauce... mmmmm!

Souper Saturday!

This weekend, I've decided to try out some different kinds of soups. This Butternut Squash Soup with Indian Spices from Blazing Salads was so tasty I was rather disappointed when the carton was empty. It reminded me of a thicker and sweeter kind of carrot and coriander soup. I didn't really notice the spices, although there are cumin, tumeric, mustard seeds, curry powder and garlic listed as ingredients on the side of the tub. All the ingredients complimented each other nicely and were not at all overpowering. I imagine it would be an ideal soup for a cold Winter's day, as it was so comforting and filling.

However, my favourite was this Ukrainian Borche, which is also from Blazing Salads. I found the colour a little offputting, as the onions and parsnips mixed with the beetroot made it look like a bowl of rhubarb... and I hate rhubarb with a passion! I managed to look beyond this though and I was so glad that I did: the Borche is one of the nicest, heartiest soups I've ever tasted. It is very similar to a standard vegetable and bean broth, but the celeriac, bay leaves and marjoram give it an interesting kick.

At €3.90 these are reasonably priced for fresh soups with all-natural ingredients. I'm definitely going to go back and try some more!

I've been busy in the kitchen this morning, making a polenta and vegetable "pie" for this evening, whilst trying to do a million and one other things at the same time... as I was putting the dinner plates away I accidentally knocked Mr. Saltz off the shelf. Here he is, looking quite stunned, while Mr. Peppie is in shock and seems rather distraught that his best friend (who he was quite attached to) is now defunct.

Burgers, Pasties & Some Culture!

Today I went to the Irish Museum of Modern Art to see two exhibitions of works by Spanish painter Ferran Garcia Sevilla, and Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa. Both were very interesting, especially Garaicoa's architecturally-inspired paper creations, so I'd recommend a trip to IMMA to see them if you're at a loose end around Dublin one weekend in the near future.

On the way back I decided to call into Blazing Salads to pick up some food to review for the blog. I was planning on buying some of their ready meals. I would not normally buy any sort of ready meal as I prefer to cook from scratch, so I know what has gone into my meal and know that it will be healthy... of course this would not be a problem with Blazing Salad's excellent standards of cuisine, but when I saw the price they charge for this privilege I decided I couldn't really afford to get a few meals when they were over €7.00 each! Instead I opted for the Sweet Potato Burger and the Butternut Squash Pastie. Neither were listed on the website as I thought they would be, so I do not have a list of the exact ingredients. At just over €2.00 each they were good value and filling. I preferred the pastie to the burger, as I found the burger to be a bit blander than I expected. However the butternut squash in the pastie made it sweet and juicy, and it was the perfect size. Pasties are normally quite greasy, but this little wholemeal-pastry-encased delight was nothing but healthy :)

I also picked up a couple of their frozen soups to review over the next couple of days. One is a Ukrainian broth with beetroot, beans and parsnips, whereas the other is an Indian spiced butternut squash soup. A large pot costs only €3.90, and you can get them already heated in store for lunch, along with a slice of their sourdough bread. All their soups are vegan and I had trouble choosing which ones to buy. I can't wait to try them as they look adventurous and intriguing!