Spicy Corn Chowder

One of the 12 days of Soupmas :)  Made with all the leftovers I had in the house at the time

Serves 8

• 1 medium red onion (chopped fine)
• 6 spring onions (chopped fine)
• 1 leek (chopped fine)
• 6 medium potatoes (peeled and chopped fine)
• 2 cans of sweetcorn (340g each)
• 1.5l vegetable/chicken stock
• 500ml semi skimmed milk
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• pinch of chilli flakes or powder (to taste)
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Heat the oil in a large pan on the hob (around 3 litres in size or halve the recipe)

Saute the onion, spring onions and leek for 5-10 minutes until soft.

Add the potato and corn and mix well, season with chilli, salt and pepper.

Pour in the stock and milk and boil then leave to simmer for at least 60mins.

Before serving, if you have a hand blender or stand blender, use it to blend around half the soup so it becomes thick but there are still chunky bits in it.

Serve with fresh crusty bread and lashings of butter :)

Spicy pasta meatballs

• 4 Pork and chorizo burgers (or any speciality burgers from a supermarket)
• 6 Pork and chorizo sausages (or any speciality sausages from a supermarket)
• 2 large onions cut into chunks
• 4 rashers of bacon cut into small pieces
• 8-10 large mushrooms cut into chunks
• 300ml red wine
• 2 jars tomato sauce
• smoked paprika
• dried chilli to taste

Heat a large flat bottomed pan on the stove with some oil in.

Cut each burger into eighths and roll gently into ball shapes.  Cut the skin of the sausages and take out the meat and roll into balls equal in size to the burger ones.  Put all the formed meatballs into the pan and lightly brown them then put them to one side.

Saute the onions in the empty pan for around 5 minutes until soft and then add the bacon and cook as well.  Finally add the mushrooms and saute until cooked.  Add around a teaspoon of smoked paprika and stir until all is coated.  Add the chilli to taste (just a pinch makes it nice and spicy).

Pour in the jars of tomato sauce and add the red wine.  Bring to the boil and then simmer and add the browned meatballs.  Cook on simmer for around 30 mins.

15 mins into the simmer, put on the pasta of your choice.  Then once cooked serve with Parmesan cheese and enjoy :)

Goats cheese and red onion tartlets

I make these tarts using my proper Yorkshire pudding tin (4 shallow cups in the tin) so it makes perfect shallow little tarts.

• 4 slices of bread
• Splash of olive oil
• 2 large red onions cut in half and very thinly sliced
• 50ml red wine
• 50ml balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 small round of goats cheese (from the chiller aisle, not the cheese counter, there's one in a white packet with a goat on the top for 99p), sliced into 4 circles.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Heat the oil in a shallow based frying pan, add the onion and saute for 5-10 minutes until soft.

Add the red wine, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and simmer on a low heat for around 20mins until the liquid goes thick and sticky.

Grease the Yorkshire Pudding tins.  Get a cookie cutter or a saucer a little bigger than the size of the yorkshire pudding cup and cut out circles of bread.  Put them into the cups and gently push them into the edges to form a little case.

Divide the onion mixture equally between the cases and lay a slice of goats cheese on the top of each tart.  Put in the oven for 10-15 mins until the cheese goes golden brown on top.

Irish Coffee Mousse

This is a lovely but very rich :)  Shown in an irish coffee cup but would work very well in a small wine glass, the old style round 70s ones which they used to use in restaurants for Irish Coffees.  As with liquor coffees, you can pick your own flavour of alcohol, I just like Tia Maria ;)

Needs at least 6hrs chilling, so make night before or early in the morning.

For the coffee/chocolate mousse

• 300g 70% (at least) cocoa dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons espresso coffee made up (can buy instant from supermarkets or really strong coffee)
• 2 tablespoons of your chosen alcohol
• 120g unsalted butter
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 6 tablespoons caster sugar

For the white chocolate topping

• 200g white chocolate
• 1 1/2 gelatine leaves
• 350ml whipping or double cream
• 3 medium egg yolks
• 65g icing sugar
• a little vanilla extract

Bring a pan of water to the boil.  Find a heatproof bowl that will fit in the top of the pan and put the chocolate in this with the coffee, alcohol and the butter and melt it slowly.  Once it has melted remove from the heat and stir.

Mix in the 6 egg yolks until the mixture is very smooth (it may look a little grainy at this point, do not worry).

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff and a bowl can be turned upside down without them moving, slowly add the sugar, tablespoon at a time allowing each one to dissolve in the mix and whisk until it goes stuff and glossy.

Fold a ladleful of the egg mix into the chocolate and then add the rest trying to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.

Spoon carefully into the individual glasses, leaving at least a 1cm gap at the top of the glass and put into the fridge until you have made the next step.

Wash all the bowls you used, you're going to need them again.

Again melt the white chocolate in the bowl over the pan of water.  

Put the gelatine leaves on a plate with a few spoons of the cream and heat in a microwave for a minute or so until dissolved.

In another bowl beat the egg yolks and the sugar with an electric whisk, add the gelatine cream and the melted white chocolate and mix well.

In another bowl whip the remainder of the cream untol thick and then fold into the chocolate and egg yolk mixture.

Get the glasses with the dark mousse in out of the fridge and they will be slightly set.  Add some white chocolate mousse to the tops of the glasses so it looks like the floating cream topping on an irish coffee.

Chill the mousses for at least 6hrs before serving, and then gently dust with cocoa powder before you put them out.

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Drunken Mushrooms

Really easy to make for a nice dinner :)  Make just before you want to serve.  Makes enough for around 6 people.

• 500g value mushrooms(stalks removed) chopped chunky (so each mushroom into 6 or 8 pieces)
• 1 packet wild mushrooms (oyster, chanterelle or any others)
• 10 garlic cloves chopped finely or crushed
• small bunch fresh parsley chopped
• 75ml double cream
• 375ml white wine
• 50g salted butter
• Nice crusty bread like granary or mediterranean cut into 12 slices

Put the butter in a large saute pan over a low heat until it melts.  Add the garlic and parsley and let it cook gently.

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.  Place the bread slices on a baking trays and brush both sides of the bread with oil.  Place in oven for 10 mins until become crispy.

Add mushrooms to butter and garlic in the pan and toss so they are all coated.  Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Add the white wine and then the double cream, turn down to a fierce simmer and cook for another 5 minutes until the sauce starts to reduce.  

Serve 2 slices of bread on a plate with mushrooms poured over the top.

Arrancini

My friend Alessandro introduced me to these and I first tried them at Jaime's Italian in Bristol, yum, yum, hooked ever since!  They are little balls of risotto surrounded in crispy breadcrumbs. They taste amazing, but be prepared to get messy.  And you're going to need a deep fat fryer ;)

• 500g risotto rice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 2 onions very finely chopped
• 6 large closed cup mushrooms very finely chopped
• 1 large glass white wine
• Chicken stock (some)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 ball mozzarella
• 1 tub breadcrumbs (ASDAs own are the best, or Japanese panko crumbs)
• 4 eggs
• 100g plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

Start by making the risotto, put the oil in the pan and gently sauted the onions and garlic for around 5 minutes. Once starting to get soft and translucent add the mushrooms and cook for another few minutes.

Add the whole bag of risotto rice to the pan and allow it to lightly fry along with the onions and mushrooms, keep it moving around the pan so it doesn't stick for around 2 minutes.

Then add the glass of white wine and enough chicken stock to cover the rice.  Turn the pan down to a very low simmer and keep stirring to stop the rice sticking.  When the rice has soaked up the stock and started to dry out, add more and keep adding for around 30 minutes until the rice is soft.  Stir the risotto until you cook off as much liquid as possible, leaving the rice a little wet.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

Switch on the deep fat fryer to warm up.

When the rice is cool, but not cold (you need to be able to mould it), set out 3 flat dishes, one with flour in, one with the 4 eggs (beaten) and one with breadcrumbs in.  

Cut the mozzarella ball up into around 25 small pieces 1cm x 1cm.

Take about a tablespoon of rice in your hand and squash into a flat ball put a piece of the mozzarella on top and add another tablespoon of rice to your hand and mould a ball with the cheese inside it.  Once it holds its shape, roll gently in the flour, then in the egg mixture and finally in the breadcrumbs so it is well coated.  Place on a plate and start again to make the next ball.

Keep going until all the rice mixture is used.  I made about 24 arrancini with this mix, they were a little varying in size but most about 4-5cm diameter.

Once the balls are made, cook them in the deep fat fryer, 5 at a time, until the outside is golden brown (about 5-6 minutes) and place on a baking tray.

Before serving as a starter, reheat in an over (around 180 degrees) for 10-15 minutes to crisp up and warm.  Serve with a dressing of pesto and olive oil and caesar salad.

Chocolate and Marmite Cupcakes

Yeah yeah I know it's the whole Love vs Hate debate for Marmite but you GOTTA try these!!











Ingredients:

3 Eggs
280g Caster Sugar
5-6 good Glugs of Olive Oil
25g Cocoa Powder
250g Plain Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 Good Glug of Baileys
2 Good tsps of Marmite
200g Milk or Dark Chocolate

Instructions:

1) Preheat Oven to Gas Mark Cake (aka 4/180C)
2) Chunk and melt chocolate in microwave for 1 minute
3) In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and oil.
4) Stir in melted chocolate
5) Stir in all other ingredients and mix well.
6) Separate into cupcake cases
7) Put in oven for 20-25 mins. Check with pokey thing to make sure cooked all the way through.

** IMPORTANT STEP **

8) Eat and enjoy!