Pumpkin Soup

Fabulously easy and so so yummy.

Ingreds:  Butternut pumpkin, peeled and diced, 1-2 large onion peeled and quartered, 1-2 cloves garlic peeled and grated, approx 2 litres of chicken/vegetable stock, oil, cream, salt and pepper.

Method:  Place diced pumpkin and onion in a baking dish and coat the veggies with a little oil and salt and pepper.  Cook on 200C for approx 30 mins or until just tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool a little.  Process/blend the cooled pumpkin and onion.  Add this mix to a large pan with the heated stock, salt and pepper to taste and bring to a simmer.  When ready to serve add a little cream or milk and mix well.  Serve with some crusty bread or garlic/herb bread.  Enoy.

Irish Colcannon

I want you to feel very special when you make this wonderful traditional Irish dish. I wrote this down whilst sitting in an Irish pub drinking a pint with my darling hubby at Kings Cross, London last Christmas. We were lucky enough to go over to the UK for Christmas and my hubby and I had a few days without children so we indulged ourselves. I felt like I was 21 again! On the walls of this wonderful pub were various Irish recipes and as I had ordered a meal with Colcannon as the accompanying vegetable dish which was superb, I wrote their recipe down on my BR train ticket (which I have now taped into one of my many personally written but not published recipe books) so here it is....

Ingreds: 8 peeled potatoes, 1 small cabbage washed and shredded coarsley (traditionally the Irish use curly Kale), one eshallot chopped, 1 oz (30 gms) butter (yes they still utilise Imperial measurements in the UK) , 1/3 pint (150 mls) milk, parsley and salt and pepper.

Method: Cook the potatoes in salted water until just tender and mash adding the butter first and then the milk. Cook the cabbage for about 1 minute in salted boiling water. Remove the cabbage from the pan and drain. (Optional: put the cabbage and half the eshallot into a food processor and "blitz" for 10 seconds). Add the spring onion, cabbage and parsley to the mashed potato and mix in. Add salt and pepper to taste....enjoy.