Recipe Sharing - Savoury

All the following recipes will feed 3-4 adults.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into big chunks
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced thinly
6 oz green lentils, washed
1 tblsp Garam Masala (look for this on the spice shelf in the supermarket)
Olive oil
Vegetable oil
Black pepper
Garlic salt
Salt

Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Place butternut squash on a cookie (baking) sheet and drizzle olive oil over the pieces. Grind black pepper over the top and sprinkle with garlic salt (this can be the only salt in the recipe if you like). Rub the oil and seasoning all over the chunks until well covered and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until tender (when you put a knife in there is little or no resistance).

Place the washed lentils into a saucepan and cover with water so that there is about twice the amount of water to lentils. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, adding a little boiling water if it starts to run dry, until the lentils are tender (place one between your fingers and gently squish it. It should squish easily). Drain.

Whilst the lentils and butternut squash are cooking, heat about 4 tbsps of vegetable oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onions. Allow the onions to fry slowly as you want them to caramelise (turn the sugars in the onions into sweet caramel) not burn. You may need to keep them moving with a spatula to make sure they cook on all sides.

Get a big soup pot and drain the oil from the butternut squash and the onions into the bottom. Add the Garam Masala and heat it gently, until you can smell the fragrant spices. Add the rest of the ingredients and 'wash out' (use a little cold water to rinse the flavours out) the cooking pans into the soup pot. Add about 3 more pints of water. Use a handheld food processor and puree (you can use a ordinary food processor, it just takes longer). Bring to the boil and turn down to a very gentle simmer (simmering is usually a medium heat; it's where the pan bubbles gently, seeing one of two small bubbles every second). Add salt to taste.

Serve with chunks of your favourite bread.

Leek and Potato Soup

3 medium leeks, cleaned and sliced
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Knorr vegetable or chicken stock cube
1 oz butter
black pepper
salt

Clean the leeks thoroughly. They grow them in sand and grit in your soup is horrid. Do this by cutting off the bottoms with the roots on and cutting off the brownest tops of the leaves. Slice the leek in half and rinse under the running cold tap, lifting all the layers to make sure there's no muck left.

Heat the butter gently to melt it in the bottom of a large soup pot. Throw in the sliced leeks and cubed potatoes. Grind some black pepper in; I like about 7-10 good grinds but you might like less. Gently fry for about 5 minutes, stirring gently every 30 seconds or so. Add about 3 pints of water and the stock cube. Bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with a hand blender. Add a little more water (or milk) if it seems too thick. Add some salt to taste for you.

You can serve this hot or cold. It's called Potage Parmentier hot or Vichyssoise cold! It goes almost like thin mashed potatoes if you let it go cold and my husband has been known to stick it between two slices of bread as a sarnie...

Chicken Korma

4 skinless chicken breasts (or de-boned thighs), chopped into nice chunky pieces
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into squarish pieces
1 largish courgette, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into large squarish pieces
2 cloves of garlic (that's the individual pieces of garlic, not the whole bulb!), crushed
1 14 and 1/2 oz tin of chopped tomatoes (no salt and not stewed)
1 14 and 1/2 oz tin of light coconut milk
1 and a 1/2 tsp of garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 tblsp chopped fresh leaf coriander, including stalks
1 tblsp oil, preferably olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put the oil, turmeric and garam masala into a largish saucepan and heat on a medium heat until you can smell the spices. Stir in the onion, garlic and carrots. Let these sweat, keeping them moving every so often, until the onion goes translucent (see-through).

Add the chicken and stir regularly, allowing to brown slightly. Add the potato, coconut milk and tomatoes. Cover with a lid and simmer on the medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the squash and simmer for a further 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

You can let it go cold at this point, refrigerate preferably, then reheat later. Before serving, stir in the coriander, add salt and pepper if you need to and serve over steamed or boiled basmati rice (only takes 10 minutes to cook!).

My kids absolutely adore this! I change out one of the ordinary potatoes for a sweet potato mostly and I also make it with butternut squash instead of courgette. Makes it sweeter to the small person's palate. I also often leave out the chicken (or chicken alternative that we use) and just have it as a veggie korma.

My Mum's Mashed potatoes

6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1 inch thick slices
1/2 onion, sliced
3 ozs of butter, sliced
semi-skimmed or full fat milk
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Place potatoes, onion and about 2 tsp of salt in a largish saucepan and cover over with water plus a little bit. Bring to the boil and boil until tender (about 20 minutes). Drain. Put the potatoes and onion back in the pan and add the butter and freshly ground black pepper. Mash with a masher or a hand blender. Add some milk and beat until smooth, adding more milk if you think it needs it.

Serve with sausages and plenty of gravy! Or use it to top shepherd's pie, with a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese! Tastes so much better than the freeze dried crapola!

Cauliflower Cheese

1 head of cauliflower
2 oz butter
3 tblsp of corn flour
1 tsp of mustard powder (optional)
6 oz of cheddar cheese, grated
1.5 pints of at least semi-skimmed or full fat milk

Break up cauliflower into florets and place in a saucepan. Cover with just enough water to cover the florets. Add about 2 tsp of salt, bring to the boil and boil for about 10 minutes, or until how you like it.

While you're doing this, melt the butter in a smaller saucepan. Remove from the heat and add cornstarch and mustard. Stir into the butter to make a paste. Add the milk slowly, stirring all the time until all the paste has dissolved into the milk. Return to the heat and, stirring constantly, bring the milk to the boil over a medium to medium high heat (high will burn the milk). When it has thickened completely, add the cheese and taste. If it isn't cheesy enough for you, add more!

Put the cauliflower in an oven proof dish and pour the cheese sauce over it. Place under the grill and brown the cheese sauce for about 5-10 minutes. Serve with your favourite steak or pork chop or on its own with crispy bacon. You can also add broccoli with the cauliflower.

Poached White Fish (in Cheese or fishy milk sauce)

2-4 medium white fish fillets (hoki, cod, haddock, etc) defrosted if frozen (else add 5 mins to microwave time)
3/4 pint of milk
knob of butter
black pepper

Put fish scale side down in a microwaveable dish. Cover with milk. Grind on some black pepper and put the knob of butter in the middle. Cover dish with microwaveable cling film and make two small steam holes. Microwave on high for 5 minutes (7 for 4 fillets). You can do this in the oven if you cover with tin foil and bake at 370F/180C for 25 mins.

If you want to make the cheese sauce, pour off fishy milk and, using the cheese sauce recipe in the cauliflower cheese recipe, make the cheese sauce using the fishy milk! Serve with peas and mash. You can just eat the fish plain if the cheese sauce is too much faff. Or, finally (!) using the fishy milk, add a little milk to 2 tsps of corn flour to make a paste. Add the paste to the fishy milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil gently. Fishy milk sauce! I find it a bit bland without the cheese but your kids might prefer it.

Spag Bol or Lasagne
(just make the red sauce for spag bol!)

Red Sauce
1 lb of lean minced beef
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
8 medium fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tins of chopped plum tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato puree/paste
1/2 tsp dried basil
black pepper
garlic salt (ordinary salt will do)
olive oil

White sauce (for lasagne)
2 ozs butter
6-8 ozs cheddar, grated
30 fl ozs milk
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp dried English mustard powder or 1 tsp of Dijon mustard (optional)

1 pkt of no-cook lasagne sheets or 3oz per person spaghetti

In a large saucepan, heat a little olive oil and gently fry the onion, carrot, mushrooms and garlic together until the onions go translucent (see though). Add the meat and season with basil, pepper and garlic salt. Gently fry until the meat is brown. Add the tomato puree/paste and tins of tomatoes. Refill the tin twice with water and add that too. Simmer the sauce until the liquid has reduced by about half.

For lasagne: While it is simmering prepare the white sauce. Melt the butter and remove from the heat. Add the mustard and cornstarch to make a paste. Slowly add the milk, stirring continuously and return to the heat. Stir continuously and bring to the boil on a medium heat, so it doesn't burn. Once it's thickened add the cheese and taste for cheesiness. Add more if it needs it.

Preheat the oven to 375F (180C). Into a glass dish place a layer of no-cook lasagne sheets, taking care not to overlap them. Add a layer of red sauce (about 1/2). Place another layer of lasagne sheets, again no over laps, then another of red sauce. Finally, add the last layer of lasagne and then pour the white cheese sauce over the top. Bake in the oven with a foil cover for about 45 minutes, then cook for the last 15 minutes without the cover.

Ratatouille or Marrow Provencale

3 firm largish courgettes, washed and cut into 1/2 inch slices
or
1/2 a marrow, peeled, deseeded and sliced into 1 inch thick 1/2 rings
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 small tins plum tomatoes
1/2 tbsp tomato puree/paste (optional)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp dried basil
black pepper
olive oil
salt

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil, add the onions, garlic, basil and a couple of grinds of black pepper (and salt if you're going to add it) and gently fry until translucent. Add the courgettes or marrow and just fry long enough to change their colour a little. Add the tomatoes (and paste if you wish - makes it more tomatoey) and refill one can with water and add it. You should break up the plum toms a little but not completely. Bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the courgettes or marrow are tender.

This makes a great alternative to greens! I've also made cabbage like this too, instead of courgettes and marrow! I've also had it where the dried basil has been replaced with fresh coriander leaf and that was delicious as well. You can eat it on it's own as well with some crusty bread as a kind of soup or pour it over some boiled pasta as a veggie alternative to spag bol.

If some of you recognise these recipes, well done! I posted them on the weaning thread on Dec06 a LONG time ago!

Jo, Thats not a post - its a book!!
Will get my thinking cap on (or copy from Tana Ramsey)

LOL! I was going to put a couple more on the end, for this site. Glad I didn't!

I might post the others later, actually.

Jo - Didn't mean to offend, its lovely to see all the receipes. Truly, Keep them coming
Laura, Try anything

The Best Chicken Noodle

Save your Sunday roast chicken carcass, including any left over chicken and skin, and the giblets from inside.

Get a big soup pot and into the pot add the carcass, skin and giblets, three pints of water, a chopped up stick of celery, a chopped carrot and an onion. Let it boil merrily for a couple of hours, keeping the water level topped up. Strain the liquor into a plastic tub and refrigerate. Throw away carcass and veggies.

The following morning, scrape off the top layer of chicken fat and discard. Place the jelly like stock back into the soup pot and bring to the boil. Slice a couple of carrots, chop up a handful of left over chicken and break up about 4oz of spaghetti into small 'noodles'. Place all into the boiling soup and turn down to a medium simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender.

Serve with crusty ham rolls!

Stroganoff (we love this in our house)

Good steak (If you can get it, fillet works FABULOUSLY)
Plain flour
paprika
cayenne pepper
a large onion
Chestnut mushrooms
garlic
brandy (a goodly splosh)
beef stock
half fat creme fraiche


put about two handfuls of plain flour into a dish, add a large pinch of paprika and a pinch of cayenne.
chop the steak into chunks and put it in the dish with the flour, getting all the meat covered in flour.
chop the onion and the mushrooms (I find most of a box from the supermarket is good - do use the chestnut ones though as the taste is MUCH better) and fry in a wok with the garlic (use puree or just add to taste - I'd say 2 cloves ish) and a splash of sunflower oil (DON'T use olive oil as it tastes odd in this recipe)

When the onions and mushrooms are nicely softened and slightly golden tip them into a bowl, and add a bit more oil to your now empty pan. Ad the floury beef to the pan, and brown all over. Add your splosh of brandy and cook off. Add some stock (about half a litre - but you might need a bit more) and return the veg to the pan.

cook slowly for about 20 minutes or so. Personally I also cook veggies in it - I find broccolli works well, peas are sweeter, and carrots even turn out OK. Add creme fraiche (you can use soured cream, but I find it too fatty these days!) I usually use about half a 250g tub. stir well and simmer gently.

I usually serve this with rice.
Lx