Creamy Roasted Squash Soup

A modified version of a soup from WW serves 2

1 medium Onion  

1 whole (small) Butternut Squash  

2 clove(s) Garlic

1 cube Oxo Vegetable stock   

1 tbsp Fat Free Natural Yogurt  

1 tbsp Semi Skimmed Milk

1. Cut off skin and pips from squash and chop into cubes 
2. Quarter Onion 
3. Remove skin from garlic 
4. Roast all veggies on silicon mat for 30 minutes on high heat until squash is slightly brown 
5. Remove any really burnt pieces (I took out the onion)
6. Make stock cube up to 1 pint and cook squash with salt & pepper until really tender 
7. Allow liquid to cool 
8. Liquidize with 1 tbsp of yogurt and milk 
9. Reheat and serve

1 WW Point per serving

Mushroom Boats

This is a definite buffet favorite that my sister Linda makes :)

For 16 boats you need

8 slices of toast buttered - cut into 2 pieces minus crusts
4 hard boiled eggs
16 medium sized mushrooms
8 heaped tsp of sandwich spread

Bake mushrooms in milk covered with foil until tender
Slice each egg to get at least 4 slices of white with a hole in
Chop rest of egg pieces in a bowl and mix with some sandwich spread

Assemble boat:
- White egg slice in center
- 3 blobs of egg and sandwich mix across boat
- Mushroom stalk as funnel
- Mushroom halves each end

Ellen's Salmon Pate

My aunt gave me this lovely recipe for Salmon Pate - I replace the oil with another tbsp of sherry

7 1/2 oz tin Salmon (remove bones)
4 oz softened butter
Juice 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp Sherry
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 small chopped onion

Blend everything with salt & pepper
Chill overnight

Sugar & Mustard crusted Ham

Normally cook this for Christmas eve. Delia does a similar recipe but cooks the gammon in coke.

Unsmoked gammon joint (about 3 lb) - I normally soak overnight in water to remove some salt

Boil for about 1 hour 15 minutes (my mum used to do 15 mins per lb plus 15 plus 15 if joint is cold)

Allow to cool then remove skin and criss-cross fat

Rub 2 tbsp demera sugar mixed with 2 tsp dry mustard into the skin

Bake on a high oven for 10 minutes

Alternative glaze

• • 4 tablespoons apricot preserves/jam
  • 250ml apple juice
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 50ml white wine vinegar

Ann's Curried Chicken & Rice

Super recipe that I had from my sister-in-law over 20 years ago

6 oz long grain rice
8 tbsp mayonnaise - I used light
1-2 tbsp curry paste - I used 4 tsp Pataks Tikka Marsala
Little grated orange rind
Black pepper
4 rings canned pineapple
8 oz cooked chicken - I had about 10 oz left from last Sundays joint

Cook the rice in boiling water till tender then rinse under cold water and let cool completely
Place half round a dish as a border
Shred the chicken into pieces
Finely chop 2 pineapple rings
Mix all ingredients well together
Place in center of border and decorate with a little more orange rind and the other 2 pineapple rings
Chill till required

Almond Croissant Bites

Found a recipe for Cherry Croissant Bites and used it with an Almond Custard (recipe below) instead of doing my usual custard eclairs. The recipe used Pillsbury croissant dough but I could only get Jus-Rol which I think were far bigger triangles. If I did again I would cut the pastry triangles down some.

1. Unroll the pastry triangles and place the largest part of each in a muffin tin.
2. Fill with desired filling and wrap the corners across.
3. Bake at 375 (Fan 160) for 12 - 15 minutes - I turned the oven down after 10 as they were cooking very well.

Allow to cool and top with icing (mix icing sugar with milk to a stiff runny consistency).
Decorate as you like :)

Almond Custard Filling

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp almond essence (optional)

2 egg yolks

¼ cup caster sugar

¼ cup flour

1 cup ground almonds

1.  Bring the milk and essence to scalding point in a saucepan.

2.  In a bowl beat the egg yolks, sugar and flour together to make a thick paste. Gradually pour the hot milk onto the egg mixture, beating quickly to mix together.

3.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over a low heat until the mixture becomes quite thick. Boil for 1 minute stirring all the time. Add the ground almonds and set aside to cool.

Chocolate Peppermint Patties

I made this and chocolate marzipan's today for Christmas - what a mess as my chocolate did not want to stick to the marzipan's so they look a little sad :(

Decided to just half dip the peppermints in the chocolate and they turned out better

• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon Peppermint extract
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
• 12 ounces chocolate

1. Using a mixer, blend 1 cup powdered sugar with corn syrup, water, peppermint extract and shortening. once completely blended, add in remaining powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. (If dough is too stiff to use mixer, you can knead remaining sugar in by hand.)
2. Divide dough into 1 inch balls (or 1/2 inch balls for small mints) using your hands, pat dough into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick discs. place on a wax paper lined tray and place in freezer for 4 hours.
3. When ready to coat in chocolate, follow package directions for melting chocolate.
4. Line a second tray with wax paper. Remove mint discs from freezer. Dip bottom side on disc in melted chocolate then place on a fork and using a spoon, pour chocolate over top of mint to cover. Tap off excess chocolate then place on new wax paper covered tray for chocolate to set. Repeat with remaining mint discs.
5. Store in a airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

I found these very sweet but they did all get eaten christmas day

recipe source ChocolateChocolateandmore.com

New York Cheesecake

I cheated with this and used a bought sweet pastry case as I am no good at making pastry. I used up some of my frozen strawberries to make a sauce.

2 x 8oz of Philadelphia Cheese
1 cup buttermilk - you can substitute yogurt
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 heaped tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the cheese then mix in the cornstarch and vanilla
Beat the eggs with the sugar then add the buttermilk
Mix the egg mix into the cheese - do not over beat

Pour the batter into the pastry case - I raised up the sides of the foil to stop it overflowing

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes then at 200 degrees for an hour
Allow to cool in the oven for 3 hours
Chill overnight

Strawberry sauce made with 1 cup frozen strawberries; zest from 1/2 lemon and sugar to taste
Just heat through in a saucepan mashing the strawberries as they defrost

Savoury Rolls

I made these for Christmas Eve and froze them; up North I believe they are known as Stovies

1 packet ready rolled shortcrust pastry
1 tin corned beef
1 large onion finely chopped
Mashed potato - I had a packet to use up
1 egg beaten

Break up the corned beef and mash together with the onion
Add enough mashed potato to give a 50/50 mix
Bind with half of the egg

Roll the pastry out a little thinner so you can get 3 reasonable size strips
Put some potato mix in the center of each strip
Wet the edges with water and roll the strips into large sausages
Cut the sausages into portions - I made 11 from each
Place on baking tray and snip the middle of each piece
Place in fridge for 10 minutes
Put Oven on to Fan 160

Brush tops of rolls with the beaten egg
Cook for 15 minutes or till nicely brown
These can be frozen when cold and reheated later

I also made a variation adding some additional chopped beetroot
Another variation is to add peas and some curry powder

Chicken with Tarragon Cream sauce

Made this to use up some mushrooms and cream; will go with jacket potato and green vegetables

3 chicken breasts each sliced into 4 pieces
3 tbsp chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic chopped
3 tbsp fresh tarragon - I used 1 1/2 dried
Juice 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine
1 oz butter
3/4 cup cream

1. Sprinkle salt & pepper over the chicken and fry in olive oil until well browned on both sides, set aside
2. Add onion to pan and fry for 3 minutes, then add garlic for another 2 minutes
3. Add butter, lemon juice and mushrooms to pan and fry till mushrooms have browned
4. Add tarragon and wine to pan and cook for 2 minutes
5. Return chicken to pan and cook for 5 minutes
6. Add cream to pan and heat gently till sauce is hot

Buttermilk and Rhubarb Cake with cinnamon topping

I have made this as an alternative to the "Christmas Pud"; Cake bottom is quite gooey due to the fact I use tinned rhubarb instead of fresh, the cinnamon breadcrumb topping is delicious. I cut off and ate the end to make sure it was done before freezing it :)

1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb (small bite-sized)

3 tbsp sugar - I omitted this as I used tinned rhubarb

4oz butter at room temperature

3oz demera sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

For the Topping:

2oz cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar (white)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Line a loaf tin with parchment and preheat oven to 350 degrees/ fan 160.  

Place the chopped rhubarb in a small bowl and toss with 3 tbsp sugar, set aside.  

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and (second amount of) sugar and beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla (you could do this part with an electric mixer if you want to, but do the rest by hand so the batter does not get over-mixed).  

In another bowl, mix all remaining dry ingredients together and add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until combined.  

Fold in the sugared rhubarb and scrape the batter into prepared pan, smoothing top somewhat.  

Mix the topping ingredients together by hand until big crumbles form and scatter them evenly over the batter.  

Bake cake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done in the centre.  

Recipe adapted from mmmisformommy.com

Mum's Cheese Spaghetti

My Mum used to make this for us as kids - a definite for meat-free days

Makes enough for 2 people

150g Wholewheat spaghetti
150g grated cheddar
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 can of plum tomatoes
Sprinkle of salt - Lots of black pepper

1. Boil spaghetti for 7 minutes then add in the chopped onion for another 3 minutes
2. Strain the water from the spaghetti and onion and put back in the pan
3. Add the tomatoes with liquid and chop them into pieces
4. Add the grated cheese, salt & pepper
5. Add enough milk to give a liquid for cooking and simmer for 20 minutes, stir often