Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Don't bin the innards from your pumpkin this year - use it to make this deliciously spicy pumpkin soup! This is a recipe that I just threw together after carving the pumpkin for Halloween and I have had very good feedback so far...although this is not for the feeble - it packs a mighty punch! You can discard the chili seeds if you don't want it as hot.

Ingredients:

1 Large Brown Onion (Roughly Chopped)

1 Medium-sized Pumpkin (Flesh scooped out and roughly chopped, seeds removed)

1 Large Stick of Celery (Diced)

1/4 tsp Turmeric

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Ground Coriander

1/2 tsp Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Birdseye Chili Pepper (Finely Chopped)

2 Bay Leaves

1 Litre Vegetable Stock

Juice of a Small Lemon

Salt & Pepper

Soured Cream to serve

Method:

1. Gently fry the onion for about 5 mins until just softened, then add all of the ground spices and fry for a further minute. Add the celery and pumpkin pieces and fry over for another 6 mins.

2. Pour over the Vegetable stock and add the bay leaves, chopped chili, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about twenty minutes, or until the pumpkin looks mushy. Take off the heat and leave to cool.

3. Remove the bay leaves. Blend the mixture so there are no lumpy bits and return to the hob to reheat. If the soup is too thin at this point, thicken using a tbsp of cornflour dissolved in cold water. 

4. Swirl some soured cream through the soup and serve with some nice crusty bread. If you haven't used your pumpkin for carving, you could serve the soup in the pumpkin carcass. Alternatively, you can make a hollow in some crusty baps and serve the soup in the bread!

Chicken Jambalaya

This extremely flavoursome dish of Cajun origin is known by all of my friends and family as my signature dish. I stumbled across this a couple of years ago in a recipe book from a charity shop and since then most people have been treated to this dish at least once when they have been round for dinner. Calling it my signature dish is rather tenuous as the only change to the original recipe that I have made is that I use diced Chorizo sausage rather than ham. There are thousands of different variations of this recipe out there so you can experiment with different ingredients if you like, but just remember that the tripartite of Cajun cooking is onion, celery and green peppers - it isn't a jambalaya without these so don't leave them out!

Ingredients:

A Whole Chicken (cut into eight)
125g Chorizo Sausage (diced)
Large Brown Onion (peeled and chopped)
400g Tin of Tomatoes
2 Sticks of Celery (very finely diced)
2 Green Peppers (finely diced)
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
Tbsp Fresh Thyme (chopped)
Paprika
Tabasco Sauce
Pint of Chicken Stock
225g Long Grain Rice
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method:

1. Heat some olive oil in a large casserole dish and fry over the chicken for 6-7 mins until browned. Lift the chicken pieces onto a plate and sprinkle with a little salt & pepper.

2. Add the onion to the casserole and soften for about 5 mins, then add the peppers and celery and cook for a further 5 mins.

3. Increase the heat slightly and add the diced chorizo, then add the tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, paprika, some salt & pepper, and tabasco sauce to taste. Add the chicken pieces and push them under the mixture. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 mins.

4. Stir in the rice and the stock, cover and cook for about 25 mins, or until the chicken is cooked and most of the stock has been absorbed. Take out the bay leaves, sprinkle the parsley on top and serve with some crusty bread.

Thrice-Smoked Fish Pie

Technically not what it says on the tin, but I love the word thrice and it has 3 smoked ingredients in it!

I never used to like fish-pie growing up but I have grown to love it. The use of 3 different types of fish in this recipe gives the dish an added depth when it comes to flavour. I used Basa, Smoked Mackerel and King Prawns in my dish but you can experiment with your favourite types of fish if you like, just remember that to end up with a similar result to this recipe you need to keep the proportions of the white, smoked and shellfish.

Ingredients:

500g Frozen White Fish Fillets

300g Smoked Fish Fillets

250g Frozen Shellfish

1 Litre of Milk

3 or 4 Bay leaves

1 Tbsp Whole Black Peppercorns

2-3 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley (Curly-Leaf is better for fish)

1 Tbsp Flour

100g Butter

750g Floury White Potatoes (Peeled and diced)

White Wine Vinegar (You can use White Wine if you prefer)

2 Large Eggs + 1 Egg yolk

200g Smoked Cheddar (Grated)

Smoked Paprika

Method:

 Preheat the oven to 180C

1.Place the fish (removing any bones first), bay leaves, peppercorns and parsley into a large saucepan, and pour the milk and a generous glug of white wine vinegar over the top. Boil your potatoes in salted water.

2. Bring the pan to the boil, then immediately remove from the heat, cover with a lid and leave to stand for 10 mins. Hard boil your two eggs in this time.

3. Using 2 forks, break up the fish into small chunks, then strain off the liquid and reserve. Discard the bay leaves and peppercorns. Place the fish in an ovenproof dish, making sure there is an even distribution of the 3 fish, halve your hard-boiled eggs and add to the dish.

4. Drain and mash your potatoes with half the butter, the extra egg yolk and enough of the reserved milk mixture to make a creamy mash.

5. On a low heat, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour to form a roux. Turn up the heat to high and gradually add the remaining milk mixture to the pan, whisking as you go. Once all of the liquid has been added, bring almost to the boil and remove from the heat and stir to form a thick sauce. Season with salt & pepper to taste and pour the sauce over the fish.

6. Spoon the mash over the fish and sprinkle the smoked cheddar and paprika over the top. Put in the oven and bake for at least 45 mins, or until the cheese has formed a golden crust on top of the pie.      

7. Enjoy with lightly steamed vegetables like carrots, green beans and baby corn and some tartare sauce.