A new direction...
I am conscious I have not really been writing in my journal for a while. I think I have either run out of things to say about life, or just found I've been having more fun living it than penning great long discourses about "what I did two days ago".
More and more frequently, I find myself wanting to write and take notes about the things I've been cooking, so I think directionally I am likely to start writing this up as a food blog, and I think I'm ok with that. Cooking is something that, for one reason and another, I'm actually really good at. I enjoy food, and I enjoy creating it. It seems reasonable to share that with others.
Take lunch, for example. Lunch today is reheated butternut squash soup from yesterday, with soft brown bread rolls which I baked on Thursday night. The taste sensation is just beyond words. I have this delicious, golden, velvety soup, coupled with soft, springy rolls, slightly olive-oily from the greased trays I baked them on. They go together beautifully, and the slight hint of spice from the soup speaks of cold winter nights snuggled up by the fire with one's beloved. It feels almost Christmassy in its decadence.
And the best bit? Probably the easiest thing in the world to make.
Take 2 onions and chop them finely, then saute in olive oil until golden. Add a peeled, seeded and chunked butternut squash and saute for a few more minutes before adding about a pint and a half of stock (I used chicken oxo - naughty me!). Bring this to the boil, and add a couple of bay leaves, then leave to simmer for around 30 minutes. Fish out the bay leaves (important, you'll never find them again otherwise!), and blitz the soup. I use one of those pencil blenders from Braun. I love it, it's one of my must-have kitchen gadgets, and I get dreadfully possessive about it. Oops. :)
Anyway. Blend your soup. At this stage you should have a vibrant orange slush. To this, I promptly added 300ml of single cream, soured with a generous sploosh of lemon juice. Well. It's not soup without cream. Now at this point, my taste buds were actually disappointed. To me, it tasted a bit bland, and like it needed something more. Even after adding (generous quantities of) seasoning, it still wasn't "right", so I raided my spice cupboard (no mean feat, I can assure you!) and added around a teaspoon of paprika, and a half teaspoon of hot chilli powder. Although I dithered between that and cayenne for a while. I do tend to find chilli powder has a bit more of a rounded flavour than cayenne though, which is what carried the decision - I think cayenne is one of those spices which needs other spices and herbs to carry the flavour.
The spices really helped liven up the soup. It has a lovely subtle flavour, without being overpowering. Delicious.
As for the rolls, I simply grabbed a recipe out of Good Housekeeping (I love my Good Housekeeping. It's one of those books which I would absolutely recommend to anyone just starting out, as well as the more experienced cook. They're just consistently good at more or less everything). I used a pound of flour, 2oz of butter, 1 egg, 8 floz of milk, and a sachet of fast action dried yeast. Important to note that it's worth zapping the milk in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, just to get it warmish, otherwise the yeast won't activate properly.
I also added a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. I've made these rolls before and didn't add salt as I was using salted butter, and I did find they came out really bland. So in went more salt. However, salt is a yeast inhibitor, so since I wanted my rolls to actually, y'know, rise, I stuck in a corresponding amount of sugar to help the dough to prove.
Once you've mixed your ingredients, it's a just a case of kneading the dough for a good ten minutes. I love kneading - it's so therapeutic, and there's something just so relaxing about working dough. Once you've kneaded, leave it on the side to prove - it should at least double in size, but to be honest I usually just leave it til I remember it's there. :)
Then knock it back (push it back down so all the air comes out), knead it a bit more, and divide into rolls which you need to put onto greased baking sheets. Cover with greased clingfilm, and again leave until doubled in size (or until you remember they're there). Pop them in the oven on 190C for about 15 minutes, and there you go - delicious, soft, springy rolls.
Having taste-tested, they're especially good hot out of the oven and smothered in butter and strawberry jam. :)
More and more frequently, I find myself wanting to write and take notes about the things I've been cooking, so I think directionally I am likely to start writing this up as a food blog, and I think I'm ok with that. Cooking is something that, for one reason and another, I'm actually really good at. I enjoy food, and I enjoy creating it. It seems reasonable to share that with others.
Take lunch, for example. Lunch today is reheated butternut squash soup from yesterday, with soft brown bread rolls which I baked on Thursday night. The taste sensation is just beyond words. I have this delicious, golden, velvety soup, coupled with soft, springy rolls, slightly olive-oily from the greased trays I baked them on. They go together beautifully, and the slight hint of spice from the soup speaks of cold winter nights snuggled up by the fire with one's beloved. It feels almost Christmassy in its decadence.
And the best bit? Probably the easiest thing in the world to make.
Take 2 onions and chop them finely, then saute in olive oil until golden. Add a peeled, seeded and chunked butternut squash and saute for a few more minutes before adding about a pint and a half of stock (I used chicken oxo - naughty me!). Bring this to the boil, and add a couple of bay leaves, then leave to simmer for around 30 minutes. Fish out the bay leaves (important, you'll never find them again otherwise!), and blitz the soup. I use one of those pencil blenders from Braun. I love it, it's one of my must-have kitchen gadgets, and I get dreadfully possessive about it. Oops. :)
Anyway. Blend your soup. At this stage you should have a vibrant orange slush. To this, I promptly added 300ml of single cream, soured with a generous sploosh of lemon juice. Well. It's not soup without cream. Now at this point, my taste buds were actually disappointed. To me, it tasted a bit bland, and like it needed something more. Even after adding (generous quantities of) seasoning, it still wasn't "right", so I raided my spice cupboard (no mean feat, I can assure you!) and added around a teaspoon of paprika, and a half teaspoon of hot chilli powder. Although I dithered between that and cayenne for a while. I do tend to find chilli powder has a bit more of a rounded flavour than cayenne though, which is what carried the decision - I think cayenne is one of those spices which needs other spices and herbs to carry the flavour.
The spices really helped liven up the soup. It has a lovely subtle flavour, without being overpowering. Delicious.
As for the rolls, I simply grabbed a recipe out of Good Housekeeping (I love my Good Housekeeping. It's one of those books which I would absolutely recommend to anyone just starting out, as well as the more experienced cook. They're just consistently good at more or less everything). I used a pound of flour, 2oz of butter, 1 egg, 8 floz of milk, and a sachet of fast action dried yeast. Important to note that it's worth zapping the milk in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, just to get it warmish, otherwise the yeast won't activate properly.
I also added a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. I've made these rolls before and didn't add salt as I was using salted butter, and I did find they came out really bland. So in went more salt. However, salt is a yeast inhibitor, so since I wanted my rolls to actually, y'know, rise, I stuck in a corresponding amount of sugar to help the dough to prove.
Once you've mixed your ingredients, it's a just a case of kneading the dough for a good ten minutes. I love kneading - it's so therapeutic, and there's something just so relaxing about working dough. Once you've kneaded, leave it on the side to prove - it should at least double in size, but to be honest I usually just leave it til I remember it's there. :)
Then knock it back (push it back down so all the air comes out), knead it a bit more, and divide into rolls which you need to put onto greased baking sheets. Cover with greased clingfilm, and again leave until doubled in size (or until you remember they're there). Pop them in the oven on 190C for about 15 minutes, and there you go - delicious, soft, springy rolls.
Having taste-tested, they're especially good hot out of the oven and smothered in butter and strawberry jam. :)