Food and friends - the perfect combination

Goats cheese, beetroot & walnut saladA couple of years ago I was on a hen weekend and chatting to a couple of the other girls and we realised that we only got together when all of their boyfriends and my brother met up and invited us all along. Being guys this happened at the last minute and very sporadically, so as a result months could pass and we didn't see each other. After a weekend of bonding we decided that we'd take matters into our own hands and get together once a month - girls only!

 And so our 'Come dine with me' was born. It started with 6 of us meeting once a month taking it in turns to cook and now the group has grown to 7 - which is no mean feat to cook for that many on a week night! The hostess makes three courses and the guests bring a bottle (of anything they fancy). We decided against scoring each other as it's more about good food and good company. Instead we picked our favourite dishes and cooked them when we went for a 'come dine goes away' weekend in 2010, with all the boys in tow as well.

Lemon mousse & shortbreadAt the start I was posed with a dilemma when it came to my turn as I felt obliged to cook and serve up 100% nutritionally approved courses and also tried to cater for special diets. But I soon realised that once a month maybe a bit of decadence was allowed (and if I'm honest the wheat-free polenta cake I made wasn't nearly as popular as this month's cream-based lemon mousse). So with that in mind, this month I cooked up:

• Starter - goat's cheese and beetroot salad with toasted walnuts
• Main - chicken and leek pie with mustard mash, greens and carrots
• Dessert - lemon mousse with shortbread

We've eaten all kinds of dishes - pork, chicken, lamb, veggie, no dairy, no wheat - although seafood and fish aren't often on the menu. And as for the events, we've seen engagements, marriages, relocation and now births and chatted about everything under the sun from dating to jobs to our families.

Come dine went awayNow with 4 babies and a relocation to factor in, we don't always make it every month but when we do it's great to share good food and conversation with some lovely ladies. Long may it continue, I say!

Just because it’s not pretty doesn’t mean it won’t taste good

In our perfection-obsessed society, it seems this also extends to fruit and vegetables with shiny, regulation-sized apples on our supermarket shelves.  But what about the naturally-knobbly seasonal superstars??  The jerusalem artichoke, in season from November - February is one such example (see left).

Until I started getting my Riverford vegetable box I had never seen or eaten one and was a bit sceptical about what to do with it.  But this funny looking vegetable – part of the sunflower family - is slightly sweet and nutty and goes really well with lots of dishes.

What about nutrients?

• A good source of folate: essential for DNA synthesis, red blood cell formation and cell division - which is why it’s important for women planning on getting or that are pregnant
• High source of potassium – important for the nervous system, muscle contractions (i.e. the heart) and fluid balance
• It is also a prebiotic food: a great fuel for the good bacteria that live in our gut - critical for a healthy immune system.  But a word of caution though - it can cause a slightly unpleasant side effect of wind!

How can you eat it?
You can boil, roast, steam or bake Jerusalem artichokes, but if you’re looking for recipe ideas - include it as part of a 3-combination mash with celeriac and potatoes and serve with roast lamb.  You could also make a puree with peas to accompany scallops and bacon.  Or keep it simple and grate it and add raw to salads.  But my favourite – make a soup quick, easy and delicious:

Jerusalem artichoke soup
Serves 6
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1lb Jerusalem artichokes
• 1 medium onion
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1½ pints vegetable stock
• 5fl oz. semi-skimmed milk
• 2 oz. grated cheddar cheese (optional)
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Wash and thinly slice artichokes
2. Chop the onion and sauté in oil until the onion is transparent, then add the artichokes and stock
3. Bring to the oil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the artichokes are tender
4. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a liquidiser and blend until smooth
5. Stir in the milk, return to the pan and heat bring back to previous temperature
6. If using the cheese, stir in and gently heat before serving

A new resolution

Belated Happy New Year. It’s taken me 13 days to write my first blog of 2012, but I decided to break with tradition and NOT write the usual New Year’s resolution blog.  At this point in the month, for a lot of people, it’s all about the reality of resolutions hitting home and working out whether you can actually stick to what you decided to change.

Resolutions are ‘a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, project or the reforming of a habit.’  They are about improving oneself, but often the nature of these goals makes them hard to stick to them. They can require a vast move away from what you currently do.  For example people say they want to lose weight but perhaps don’t take on the right mind set or equip themselves with right tools – i.e. exercise or sound nutrition knowledge. So the resolution becomes a punishment with no real end in sight, or a set goal to achieve which makes things harder to achieve.
 
I thought about the year I’ve just had – working for myself, creating opportunities and learning about running a business. It was a strange one; challenging, exciting, unsettling, lonely (at times), in which I didn’t always know what was round the corner.  By the middle of the year I felt a little bit like I was drowning in unrealised opportunities that well-meaning friends and family were encouraging me to do. My bank balance was dwindling, but so too was my motivation - I wasn’t achieving anything so became quite disillusioned and negative. A classic vicious circle.  

The one thing that was key for me – and I am sure that this is true of many starting their starting their own business – was that was you need a goal or more importantly a purpose!  

Cue some coaching from the inspiration Dawn Waldron and seven months on it’s a different story.  I now know what my life purpose is and how to work towards that.  I know that along the way my priorities might change to suit that phase of my life but that’s ok.  I understand how I can earn a living but also work towards my life purpose (related to nutritional therapy) and have also had some great insights about who I am – as well as make some positive changes too.  

And my New Year’s resolution??  To become the Nutritional Therapist I aspire to be….simple and complex all at the same time.  But it’s a holistic one (just like my profession) and a great starting point for 2012.  

A tweet, some flour and an experiment

A few weeks ago I saw a tweet from Doves Farm asking if anyone wanted some flour to make bread. They had a stock of Wholegrain Heritage flour that had (unopened) damaged packing but didn’t want it to go to waste. Not being one to turn down the chance to try something new (and for free)! I jumped at the chance.

Being somewhat of a novice with bread I thought I would try something simple - and on the back of the packet is a recipe for soda bread. Having tried Paul Rankin’s Irish soda bread, I liked it but found it a tiny bit dry and would have preferred a wholemeal version and so this gave me the perfect opportunity.

Initially I had been planning on using a bread machine but it is best used by hand as makes a dense kind of bread, like artisan breads. Secretly I was quite pleased as there is something very satisfying about making your own bread by hand as it’s all your own work. So yesterday morning I set to making the bread (recipe taken from the back of the flour packet):

Wholegrain Soda Bread

Ingredients

• 500g Wholegrain Heritage flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 450ml milk
• 3 tbsp. Wholegrain Heritage flour

Method

1. Mix together the flour, salt, cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda
2. Add just enough milk and mix to a dough, slightly sticky dough
3. Shape the dough into a ball dusting with a little extra flour is necessary
4. Place the dough in an oiled baking sheet
5. Bake in a pre-heated over for 35-40 mins (180c/Gas Mark4)

My confession is that I had no (dairy) milk, only unsweetened soya milk, and I wasn’t sure if it would still work properly. But with no other alternative I decided to be brave and try it.

Fortunately it worked a treat and my loaf came out looking perfect.

There's no yeast in the bread - so it doesn’t rise, but it was surprisingly light! Which was great as I had read that it bakes into a dark, wheaty loaf and thought it might taste a bit heavy.

It went down a treat simply sliced, buttered and loaded with tinned salmon and lettuce (left) for a light lunch, but was just as delicious toasted and served with scrambled eggs. As it’s slightly denser it was also good for soaking up some homemade leek and sweet potato soup as well.

So thanks @dovesfarm for the freebie, I think this is just the start of my breadmaking….

Not just for halloween..pumpkins are for eating too!

Not just for creating atmosphere and carving scary faces into, you also (amazingly) eat pumpkins. With their tough skins they are pretty hard to cut and peel - hence their long shelf life if you store them right - but they are worth the effort.

They count as 1 of your 5-a-day and are also a good source of 'anti-oxidants', especially vitamins A,C and E - which are essential for a healthy immune system (essential at this time of year).

It is low in calories, high in fibre and contains beta-carotene (the orange pigment) which converts to vitamin A in the body and plays a role in eye health.

So what to do with the pumpkin? Well an easy and quick option is soup - perfect for a warming lunch, so here's my recipe below...

Spicy pumpkin soup:

Ingredients

• 250g pumpkin (peeled & chopped into small chunks)
• 1 pint vegetable stock
• 1 small onion, chopped and peeled
• 75g chick peas (drained weight)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp crushed chillis (or more if you like chilli)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat a saucepan with 1 tsp of olive oil and gently fry the onions for 2-3 minutes until soft
2. Add the pumpkin and stir well, before adding the chilli, cumin and a pinch of ground black pepper
3. Ensure everything is coated, then add the stock
4. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 10 mins
5. If pumpkin is beginning to get soft, add the chick peas and cook for a further 5 mins
6. Check the taste and, if required, add a pinch of salt
7. Allow to cool slightly, then blend the soup in a processor or with a hand blender
8. Return to the heat and bring back upto temperature, then serve with some fresh bread