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    Thursday, July 03, 2014

    Best Hot Pumpkin Soup, with some Tasty Courgette and Carrot Muffins

    It’s Winter...what is better for lunch on a bitterly cold day but
    Hot Soup and Muffins straight from the oven


    I have been making this Pumpkin Soup for years... got it out of the Triple Tested Cookbook
    Of course I had to play with it a bit... using the ingredients I had in my kitchen
    With a little curry and chopped bacon, it just really gives ordinary old Pumpkin Soup a lift

    I like to use Buttercup Squash, a nice dry pumpkin, you don't have to peel it
    the skin is really tasty and it’s very orange
    But you could use butternut or any other pumpkin

    This amount will serve 4 for a good hearty lunch
    6 as a starter

    500 gms squash cut in small chunks and seeds removed

    Pop into micro wave for about 4 minutes to start cooking process
    Or you can bring to boil in salted water and simmer about 10 minutes
    You can then use that water as your stock

    1 tablespoon olive oil
    3 rashers bacon chopped
    1 large onion peeled and chopped
    1 kumera, peeled and chopped
    1 tablespoon curry powder
    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

    Water or stock

    Add oil and bacon to a medium pot
    Cook until bacon starts t crisp
    Add onions
    Season well with S & P and curry powder
    Cook till translucent
    Add chopped kumera
    Stir well
    Add the pumpkin which should have softened nicely in the microwave
    Mix up so that all the vege are covered with the spice
    Add a little more S &P
    Cover with water or stock

    Bring to boil
    Simmer till all vege are soft
    Into a blender
    Whiz
    Back into pot
    If too thick add more water to your liking
    Check for seasoning and adjust if needed


    So this morning, I decided toast wasn’t good enough to have for this lunch
    Some Courgette Muffins would be good
    so I looked up a recipe on the net and found this one on netmums.com
    The recipe is attributed to Nick Coffer,
    Thank you Nick, this is a keeper

    Absolutely delicious
    What a good way to get vege into kids

    Makes 10-12 muffins (dependent on the size of your muffin tins)
    Preparation time: 10 minutes
    Cooking time: 20-25 minutes


    125g extra-mature grated cheddar cheese (worth
    buying extra mature as it adds to the flavour)
    225g self-raising flour (I used high grade flour with 1 heaped tsp of Baking powder
    175ml milk
    55ml olive oil
    1 egg
    Salt and pepper to taste

    1 large carrot, grated
    1 large courgette, grated


    Note: make sure you squeeze out the courgettes and carrots to remove any excess liquid
    Preheat your oven to 200ºC/ 400ºF/ Gas Mark 6

    In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients - flour, cheese, carrot, courgette.  
    Add in the oil, milk and egg and
    stir it all together to form a smooth, slightly gloopy batter.
    Lightly grease the muffin tins with oil and spoon the mixture in evenly,
    about 2/3 the way to the top of each tin.
    Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes.
    The muffins are ready when they are risen, golden on top and fairly dense to the touch. Leave them to cool for a few minutes before serving them warm.

    They keep well in airtight containers and can be warmed through in the microwave for 15 seconds before eating.

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