Veggie Christmas 2013

Christmas is here!! Christmas is definitely my favourite time of year; the lights, the decorations, gift giving and of course...the FOOD!! Since Isaac and I met, our Christmas tradition every year is to spend Christmas Eve together and have our own version of Christmas, as we both spend Christmas Day with our families. I love this as we get to have all the lovely things about Christmas Day but in a much calmer way. We watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol, listen to lovely Christmas songs, exchange gifts and have a big (veggie) Christmas Dinner together. It's so special. 

So, as I have a bit of time I thought I'd share what we've been eating! We started the morning with pancakes! But not just any old pancakes, snowman pancakes!! (I really only made 2 snowmen and then made loads of regular pancakes). They're spelt pancakes with a dash of vanilla bean paste. With them I made orange, cinnamon and maple spiced Greek yogurt and a gorgeously glossy blueberry, apple and ginger compote. I also had lemon wedges and maple syrup on standby if we fancied. We were stuffed after!! 

We didn't have lunch, but I made some cinnamon popcorn to nibble on while watching A Muppet's Christmas Carol (our favourite Christmas film), however totally forgot to take a picture. Afterwards came the main event...Christmas Eve Dinner! This year I wanted to keep it simple, one main dish and 2 sides. I know it doesn't look like much but we have over half left over and couldn't finish the veg. I made gorgeous maple glazed carrots with toasted pecans and crispy roasted sweet potatoes with red onions, garlic and rosemary. And as the centrepiece, Torta di Risotto (risotto tart), stuffed with griddled courgette, aubergine and pepper. Absolutely delicious accompanied by a glass of Champagne and plenty to be enjoyed again tomorrow! 

To finish we couldn't not have mince pies! My homemade ones are again made with spelt flour and vegan-friendly. The perfect end to a wonderful Christmas Eve and a great start to Christmas day.

Merry Christmas! I hope this Christmas is the loveliest yet and is filled with love, laughter and scrumptious food.

Nutella Chocolate Truffles

Christmas day is almost here! And what is even better than getting a gift? Giving one! Bought gifts are of course lovely, but there is something so nice about giving a gift you've made yourself, a little bit extra has gone into it. These will make a perfect Christmas gift (or a gift any time of the year) for someone you care about, and they take only take a few minutes to put together.

 

Start off by gently heating 120mls (1/2 cup) of double cream and 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a small sauce pan before pouring over 225g/8oz of good quality plain or dark chocolate snapped into chunks. After it's melted add 1/2 a cup of Nutella (about 4oz, a cup is easier to measure with I found) and mix until totally combined. Pour into an 8x8'' baking pan and put into the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. 

 

Once hard, using a melon baller, baby ice cream scoop or just a teaspoon and the palm of your hand form small round balls. Coat them in either nibbed almonds or hazelnuts or a good quality cocoa powder. This makes 34-36 good sized truffles. Keep them in the fridge until you're ready to give them to prevent them getting too soft and melting.

They look really cute in these small paper cases and have been given the taste test stamp of approval by Isaac. I'm sure everyone who receives these this year will be very pleased, if they have any room left for them after Christmas dinner that is!

10-Minute Winter Warmer Pumpkin Soup

I am in love with all kind of soups at this time of year, but this one in particular I keep coming back to. This is perfect for a filling lunch or a light dinner and only takes about 10 mins to put together, exactly what you need on chilly days. You can still find great eating pumpkins to buy, just make sure they have a firm dry flesh (carving pumpkins have too high a water content and have no flavour).
I cook or cut up the whole pumpkin in one go as it's much easier. I roast about 1/2 and then puree it and with the rest I cube or slice it and keep it in the freezer until needed. 

My recipe uses pureed pumpkin, but you could also use pureed butternut squash or sweet potatoes. I usually eyeball the amount of pumpkin I put in as it depends on how thin or thick I want it, usually 3 or 4 tablespoons is plenty.  For 2 people I use:

1 clove of garlic, grated
3 or 4 tablespoons of pureed pumpkin
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
Pinch of chilli
1/4 of a vegetable stock cube
600mls of water (or homemade stock)
Grating of nutmeg (optional)
Salt & pepper

All you have to do is gently cook the grated garlic in some olive oil in a pot, then add everything else in, bring it up to a boil and you're done. Get it to whatever consistency you like by adding more or less water/stock and serve it with some homemade garlic croutons or toasted bread and you're good to go!

Cinnamon and Raisin Swirl Bread

November has arrived and with it comes chilly mornings and long dark evenings. It's awful getting out of bed 1st thing in the morning, placing your warm toes onto a spine-tinglingly cold floor and leaving your cosy bed behind you. However knowing this gorgeous sweet treat awaits you will make getting out of bed that little bit easier. As this bakes, your whole house will smell amazing and it's very difficult not to go for seconds (and thirds!) of this bread.

I start off by making my favourite regular bread recipe and after it's 1st prove I knock it back and gently knead in about 1/2 a cup of raisins (or currants, or both). Using a rolling pin I flattened it out into a rough rectangular shape, brush it with a little bit of sunflower oil (or you could use melted butter) and scatter over some cinnamon sugar. I combined 1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar with 2 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, I love it really cinnamony!! Then roll it up like a swiss roll and place into a greased loaf tin to rise a 2nd time for 30-40 mins until it has risen above the sides of the tin. Because of the raisins it doesn't look like the smoothest or prettiest loaf on the outside but it makes up for that completely on the inside! So pretty!

Bake for about 35-40 mins at 200C until it sounds hollow when tapped and try with all your might to let it cool completely before cutting a slice into it (If you can wait that long, more power to you, I couldn't, about half an hour was fine!). This really doesn't need anything else on it, but if you wanted you could spread some butter or jam or marmalade on it. What a perfect weekend treat!

Pumpkin Everything!!

Lately there has been one vegetable above all else that I've been going back to again and again over the last month for both sweet and savoury dishes. Can you guess what it is? Yep, Pumpkin!! So I'm going to compile all a good few of the dishes I've been making into this post. 

 Pumpkin (and autumnal veg) & Bean Casserole

 Pumpkin Spice Latte

Pumpkin Buns

 Pumpkin Scones

Low-fat Pumpkin mini Cheesecakes

 Pumpkin Ravioli with Purple Basil Pesto

Pumpkin Pancakes & Orange Spice Yogurt

Pumpkin & Raisin Tea Loaf (totally forgot to take a picture of the actual loaf)

I've also been adding pumpkin pie spice to pretty much everything I can, to say I'm a little obsessed would be a bit of an understatement! I'm sure there will be many more pumpkin dishes to come, I've a big "to-cook" list of ideas so keep an eye out for more! If you haven't gone out and bought some beautiful organic local pumpkin and squashes, what are you waiting for? Go!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mix

I truly am addicted to this delicious warming spice mix at the moment! It's hugely popular and easily available in the US but not so much here sadly. However it's an absolute doddle to make, is the work of minutes and adds a gorgeous autumnal flavour to anything you add it too.

My perfect spice mix ratio is:

4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoon dried ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground all spice
1/2 teaspoon ground clove

Put everything into a little jar, gently mix and use to your hearts content! My favourites uses for it at the moment are on my porridge in the morning, on top of a coffee (think cappuccino), on rice pudding, a dusting over warm milk, cupcakes or buns, in a tea loaf, mini cheesecakes, scones, pancakes..the list is practically endless!! What are your favourite ways to use pumpkin spice?

Check out my video in for more info and how to make my perfect pumpkin puree (delicious in my homemade pumpkin spice lattes!).

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Latte

So we all know the hugely popular version of this drink, which I have to admit that I've never actually tried, however I LOVE the sound of it. I'm really not a fan of that coffee chain and I wanted to make my own version healthier and with all natural ingredients. If you can find a good quality canned organic pumpkin puree I'd use that however if you can't, making your own is very easy. Just put a 1/4 of a small pumpkin cut-side down on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 mins until totally soft. Then scoop out the flesh and blend it until totally smooth.

Ingredients:
250ml of milk (or milk alternative)
1 or 2 tbl of maple syrup or honey
1 tbl of pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 shot of espresso

I've used both oat milk and cow's milk for this recipe, and they both turned out great, so use whatever kind of milk you'd prefer. This is how I like mine, but if you want it sweeter, spicier or more pumpkiny just up the quantities to your taste. If you have a milk steamer to heat everything together that would be amazing, however I don't, so I heated the milk and pumpkin puree in a saucepan before tipping everything into a blender and whizzing it up for about 30 seconds until the milk became frothy. Top with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice and enjoy! It's as easy as that.