Butternut squash & sage soup

My recent inactivity regarding posting is not because I have forgotten about my blog and my dear readers, but more to do with the fact that as the winter has arrived I resort to making a huge batch of soup, then freezing it and defrosting it as and when needed. Needless to say that it takes me quite some time to get though a whole batch of soup and, maybe more embarrassingly, I have treated myself to my all time favourite soups: tomato & basil soup and butternut squash soup. So I finally managed to rid myself of all the soup and when it came to preparing something to eat for the rest of this week I decided to give another soup a chance.

I have to confess that I still haven't gotten over my fascination with butternut squash and therefore when I set out to find a new recipe I knew what the main ingredient was going to be. Apart from the fact that butternut squash soups are so lovely in colour, pureed squash is nice and creamy - I can almost go as far to say that butternut squash soups (in various different forms) are a real comfort food for me. Nothing gets rid of the cold and damp feeling better than a hot bowl of soup served with a toasted bread. And the fact that vegetable soups in general are good for the waistline is just an added bonus!

While I was making this huge (this one is 8 servings) batch of soup on a cold Sunday afternoon, the aromas the filled the flat were absolutely amazing. Firstly the long frying of onions and chopped sage and then when the soup was simmering... I takes relatively little time to make this soup and that can be halved if you buy ready prepared butternut squash. It makes a lovely starter as it is not too rich to have, but at the same time it's a lovely warming and filling soup on its own and makes a perfect lunch or dinner, especially during wintertime. I've frozen most of it and will defrost during the week just by taking out the portion in the morning and leaving it on the counter and it will be nicely defrosted by dinnertime. All in all, it's a lovely dish and a nice change from my "usuals", easy to make, and most importantly warm and filling enough to get you through the dark winter evenings.

Ingredients

(Serves 8)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3 onions, chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped sage
- 1.4kg peeled and deseeded butternut squash
- 1 tbsp clear honey
- 1 1/2 vegetable stock
- Salt, to season
- Pepper, to season

Directions
Firstly melt the oil and butter in a large saucepan and add the onions and sage and cook on a low heat until they're really soft for around 15 minutes. Then add the squash and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the honey and stock and bring to simmer. Cook until the squash is tender (approximately 15minutes).

Blend the soup into a smooth puree using a handheld mixer and season to taste. Place the soup in a bowl, decorate with a sage leaf (I used deep fried crispy sage leaves) and enjoy!

Recipe from BBC Good Food

Salmon with celeriac gratin & green beans

I am a huge fan of salmon and want to constantly incorporate more of it into my menu. So, whenever I see an interesting recipe with it I want to try it out as quickly as possible. When I flicked through my October copy of BBC Good Food magazine and saw this recipe I marked the page immediately. But as usual, it took me quite some time to get around to making it, but I can proudly say that I've made it twice already (once without the gratin) and fell further in love with the way this tastes like.

I have to admit that I'm not that keen on the celeriac gratin, but I think that the fact that this was the first time I've had celeriac in such a form might have had something to do with my opinion of it. Or maybe it's because I'm very used to eating potatoes with my salmon that I just found it slightly out of place. Nevertheless, the taste was interesting and I would definitely give it another shot when I'll make it again.

Salmon with the whole-grain mustard coating is a totally different story! I fell in love with it. I love the way the mustard adds so much flavour to the salmon and balances out its richness. Here I have to take a second and thank this blog as it is the sole reason I now eat mustard - all thanks to the honey-mustard chicken that I made to push myself further in trying to find new recipes to post. The second time I made it I used a whole chunk of salmon, rather than individual fillets, and my dad who usually doesn't eat salmon at all helped himself to a second portion!

If you leave aside the celeriac gratin, this dish is very easy and quick to cook and requires very little preparation. And even if you make it with the gratin, one of the beauties of it is the fact that you put it in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes and then can do other things in the meantime. So, if you want to try out an amazing new way of cooking salmon and want something tasty, filling and warming, this is definitely something to try.

Ingredients

(Serves 2)
- 400g celeriac, peeled
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1/2 chicken stock cube
- Fresh thyme
- Grated nutmeg
- 2 salmon fillets
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 250g green beans

Directions
Heat the oven to 180C fan/200C. Slice the celeriac as thinly as you can and find a baking dish that would fit all of it in. Add a layer of celeriac, sprinkle with garlic, thyme and seasoning and repeat the layers finishing on a celeriac layer. Mix the stock cube with 230ml of boiling water, season with nutmeg and pour over the celeriac. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

When the gratin has 15 minutes to go, place the salmon on a baking sheet, cover with mustard (add some salt and pepper if you wish - I find that mustard on it's own is enough) and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the green beans. When everything is ready, arrange on a plate and enjoy!

Recipe from BBC Good Food magazine October 2013