Spuds and chicory toasties

Simple, simple, comforting. That's the recipe in a 'spudshell'. The crunchy and wholesome toastie helps to ease off into a casual and relaxing evening. Especially, when the late October darkness is overtaking the northern hemisphere.

The familiar taste of potatoes, slightly bitter edge of chicory and grilled cheesy topping - all in all another great idea from Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall's "River Cottage Veg every day".

Crunchy and satisfying dinner bite

Ingredients for 4 toasties

- A good splash of rapeseed oil
- 4 small to medium unpeeled potatoes, cooked and sliced thickly
- 1 chicory, sliced sideways
- 3 tbs of crème fraîche
- 4 thick slices of sourdough bread, preferably homemade
- Goat cheese slices, enough to cover each bread slice
- Chopped parsley
- Sea salt and finely ground black pepper

Preparing the toasties

This recipe is ideal for using leftover spuds, but there is nothing stopping you from boiling a few potatoes especially to prepare the toasties. That's what we did.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat. When the oil is hot arrange the potatoe slices on the pan and fry until they start to turn golden. Move them around a little in the process and then turn on the other side. Add the chicory and stir gently until they start to wilt. Now the pan is ready for the crème. Stir it in and let it bubble until slightly thickened. Then add parsley, salt, and pepper, but do take into account how salty the cheese you're using is.

Preheat the grill and toast the bread slices lightly on both sides. Then spoon the spud mixture on each slice and top with the cheese. Grill until the cheese has melted and just begins to turn golden.

Put on a plate and enjoy hot and crunchy.

Middle-eastern roasted squash, carrot and parsnip

We were delighted with this warming autumnal supper dish that served as a leftover lunch for the next day. Trickled with the spice sauce, the vegetables present a simple yet satisfying meal that tantalizes the senses with a Middle-eastern combination of flavours.

The following recipe has been adapted from Lakeland's "Tagines".

Ingredients for 6

- 900 g of peeled, de-seeded and cubed butternut squash
- 1 tbsp of olive oil

- 4 large, washed and trimmed carrots, thickly sliced
- 2 large, washed and trimmed parsnips, thickly sliced

- A small handful of mint leaves to garnish
- 40 g of roasted pine nuts (to roast, place pine nuts on a hot frying pan and toss for few minutes until they start to colour)

For the spice sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp of cumin seeds
- 1 tsp of coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp of ground coriander
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 20 g of butter
- 55 g of dark muscovado sugar
- 375 ml of apple juice

Preparing the dish

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Coat the squash in the oil and roast in a large oven proof dish until tender (about 25 minutes).

Meanwhile, boil the carrots and parsnip separately until tender. Drain well and set aside.

To make the spice sauce use a small electric spice blender (or mortar and pestle) to blend garlic, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, salt and oil until the ingredients form a thick paste.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the paste. Cook for 3 minutes stirring continuously. Then add the sugar and juice, bring to the boil and cook on a low to medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken.

Place the vegetables in a large bowl and trickle with the sauce - use as much or as little as you like. Toss gently to combine and sprinkle with pine nuts and mint leaves.

Serve whilst still warm.

Jammy dodgers

It is wonderful how much homely loveliness can be baked from just a few simple ingredients. Made from the heart, these jammy dodgers delight with their crumbly texture and a strawberry inside. Preparing them is a joyful activity, with very little effort involved. Whilst the house is still filled with a blissful baking fragrance, the jammy dodgers make an ordinary tea table extraordinary!

The following recipe has been adapted from Pam Corbin's "The River Cottage Cake Handbook".

Jammy dodgers from the heart

Ingredients for roughly 10 to 14 biscuits

- 175 g of plain flour
- Pinch of finely ground sea salt
- 75 g of icing sugar (use unrefined if you have it in your store cupboard)
- 125 g of unsalted butter cut into small cubes
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 150 g of good quality strawberry jam
- Demerara sugar for sprinkling

Preparing the jammy dodgers

Preheat the oven to 170 degree Celsius.

Combine the flour, icing sugar and salt by sifting them together in a large bowl. Add the butter cubes and rub with your fingers until all the butter and flour are well incorporated. When ready, the mixture will look like fine breadcrumbs.

In a separate bowl wisk together the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Make a well in the flour mix and pour in the yolk. Now work the mixture together with your hands until you achieve a consistent, smooth dough.

Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour.

Divide the dough into two portions. Place one portion on a lighly floured greaseproof paper that is approximately half the size of your baking tray. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to 4mm thickness. To prevent the dough sticking, continue to gently flour the rolling pin and the surface of the dough. Repeat this with the remaining dough.

Transfer both sheets of greaseproof paper with the rolled out dough onto a single baking tray (one sheet next to the other). This way you will not need to lift the cut out shapes before baking and prevent deformation.

You will need two sizes of biscuit cutters; we used large and small heart shapes. Using the larger shape, cut out an even number of hearts across both dough sheets. Carefully remove the spare dough around the cut out shapes. Then, using the smaller shape cut out mini hearts in a centre of the larger shapes. However, do this only for half of the larger shapes. Add the cut out pieces to the remaining dough.

Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm but barely coloured.

Remove from the oven and put a spoonful of jam in the centre of the whole hearts. Spread the jam leaving 1.5 cm gap from the edge. Place the half with the cut out hearts on top and lightly sprinkle with demerara. Return to the oven for further 5 minutes to ensure the hot jam seals the top and bottom hearts.

Place on a cooling rack and repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Still cooling down and already irresistible

Apple and parsnip fritters with bacon

The combination of apple, parsnip and bacon may sound odd at first, but expect to surprise your tastebuds with the sourness of the apple cutting through the sweetness of the parsnip, all of which is complemented by the saltines of a crunchy bacon rasher. This recipe, like many posted before, is adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “River Cottage Fruit Everyday”.

Ingredients for 10 to 12 fritters

- 300 g of peeled, topped and tailed parsnips
- 2 medium-large (about 300 g) Cox’s apples or any other large eating apples, peeled
- 1 medium egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tbs plain flour
- Sunflower oil for frying
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
- 8 rashers of streaky smoked bacon

Preparing the fritters

Start by chopping the parsnips into sizeable chunks of about 5 cm long and put them in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover them. Salt lightly and bring to the boil. As you will be frying them later you will only need to cook the parsnips for 3 minutes. Then take them off the heat and drain.

Once the parsnips have cooled down enough to handle them, coarsely grate them into a bowl. Do the same with apples and add the egg and flour to the bowl too. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and mix everything together well.

Get a non stick frying pan ready by heating it over medium heat and covering it with about 2 mm of oil. Make the fritters by taking 1 dessertspoon full of the apple and parsnip mixture and shaping it into a small burger like disk. For best results do this with your hands and place each fritter on a chopping board. Using a large spatula carefully lift every one and put in the sizzling oil. You will be able to fry about 4 or 5 fritters at a time so this will need to be done in batches. Fry for about 5 minutes on one side, carefully flip it over and fry for another 5 minutes.

Whilst frying the fritters, heat up another frying pan to high heat and fry the bacon rashers until crispy, turning them every so often.

Serve the fritters straight out of the pan.

For a delectable mouthful, enjoy every bite with a bit of salty bacon.

Very cherry carbonara

Pasta carbonara is one of our go to dishes after a long day at work. It's fast, easy to prepare and, importantly, based on the key staple ingredients. Who doesn't have some pasta, bacon, eggs and cheese standing around? If you are a keen gardener, there is a good chance that you may have a handsome crop of cherry tomatoes at hand. They add a new dimension to the classic carbonara recipe. When roasted, these little bombs of flavour add a lovely touch of colour to this pronto pasta supper.

Effortless carbonara with sweet pockets of tomato taste

Ingredients for 4 portions

- 400 g of penne pasta (fresh or dry)
- 5 rashers of bacon, cut into small strips
- 2 medium eggs
- Dash of milk
- 100 g of grated parmesan
- 1 tsp of Italian spice mix
- 20-25 sunsugar cherry tomatoes
- Freshly ground black pepper

Preparing the carbonara

Spread the washed tomatoes in an oven proof dish and place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius. Roast for 20 minutes or until soft and the skin has cracked.

In the meantime, focus your attention on the bacon. Heat up a frying pan on the highest setting and fry the bacon strips until crisp. Stir gently but often. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Don’t forget to add a generous amount of salt to the water. 

Whilst the bacon is sizzling away and the pasta is slowly getting al dente, mix the eggs, milk, cheese and spices in a large bowl. Leave the bacon to cool down slightly before adding it to the main mixture to prevent cooking the eggs. 

Once roasted, carefully remove the skins off the tomatoes, but mind your fingers as they will be hot to the touch. Leave a few tomatoes with skin on for decoration. 

Now assemble the carbonara by first mixing the pasta with the sauce and then gently stirring in the tomatoes to ensure they remain intact.

Season with the pepper and serve immediately. Enjoy any leftovers for lunch the next day.

Uplifting beetroot juice

The earthy beetroot has gentle uplifting qualities and the juice is perfect any time of day. This root vegetable pleases the pallet with a subtle sweetness on a deep savoury background. When combined with oranges and carrots it is reviving and satisfying. Our recipe cherishes the wholesome goodness of this purple treasure.

Ingredients for roughly 2 glasses

- 2 to 3 washed beets, depending on size (they should yield approximately 150 ml of juice)
- 2 washed oranges
- 2 to 3 scrubbed carrots

Preparing the juice

Cut off the beetroot tops and peel of the skin. Then remove the skin from the oranges and trim the carrots.

Use a centrifugal juicer to extract the goodness from the ingredients. Start with the beetroot, then carrots and oranges.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes and stir well before serving.

Sunset sharon juice

Sharon fruit is full of sweetness and vibrancy, making it a perfect ingredient for a refreshing evening juice. Not only does it taste delicious in company of carrots, apples and oranges, but it also replenishes your energy reserves after an active day. In combination with other fruits, this golden cousin of persimmons holds its own distinctive flavour whilst letting other ingredients complement its delectable qualities. There are countless permutations of sharon fruit juices and this particular mix of ingredients softens the permeating sweetness of this autumnal delight.

Bright colours and rich flavours stimulate the taste buds and energise the body

Ingredients for roughly 2 glasses

- 2 washed sharon fruits
- 4 to 6 scrubbed carrots, depending on size (they should yield approximately 200 ml of juice)
- 1 washed apple
- 1 washed orange

Preparing the juice

Start with the sharon fruit and remove the top leaf with a paring knife. Then trim the carrot tops and peel the orange.

Use a centrifugal juicer to extract the goodness from the ingredients. Begin with the carrots, then sharon fruit, orange and apple. Stir well before pouring into chilled glasses. Alternatively, refrigerate for 20 minutes before drinking.