What's everyone cooking this week?

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I have been given an onion squash. What’s the best way to cook it? It’s larger than a grapefruit, smaller than a small pumpkin.

The French word is potimarron, chestnut pumpkin, and it has the most flavour of all the tribe, more than butternut imo and when baked steamed or even microwave it makes a purée with a good texture for soup. Or I made gnocchi with my last one

Thanks Sue.

[scullion Profile]

just to prove my point, this was from a programme on the telly a couple of years ago.
i paused it to go to the loo as heston was half way through saying the name of the aforesaid 'pasty' makers.

ginsters.jpeg

[jeral Profile]

Yes, scullion, I'm not surprised as that was my once only expression on eating a Ginster's pasty. Figuring out why they're so popular is the tough question. It'll be good to watch the programme to see how not to make them

Pepper Pig, I saw this and thought of you. It's a recipe for butternut squash mac 'n cheese, with roast then pureed squash forming the white sauce with milk added.

I'm not a fan of mac, although this sauce should be transferable to e.g. fish or pastry topped pies or parcels, veg lasagne/moussaka, or made vegan by using non-cows milk/cheese:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/b ... ion-widget

[Suffs Profile]

I’ve got a shin of beef casserole in the oven ... I’ve made it with a St Austell Brewery ale with hints of orange zest flavour ... I’ve added crushed juniper berries and I’m going to make a ‘Cobbler’ topping flavoured with chopped rosemary.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Thanks Jeral, that looks great!

[herbidacious Profile]

I am making a use-things-up creamy vegetable pie.

I have parsley and sage - I picked too much of both the other day. Would it be a bad idea to put both in?

[WWordsworth Profile]

I would put both in, but not much sage or it will overpower.

[jeral Profile]

Depends on the veg and whether you're adding a flavour like mustard or nutmeg/cinnamon to the creamy bit. The herbs could be used in bulk as separate stuffings to go alongside or for other things. Unless following an Otto recipe where the herbs are as much the star as the veg.

Could fry the sage leaves or make a typical tom/sage sauce with them. Parsley goes with most things, especially if garlic is in the dish.

[KeenCook2 Profile]

I made some of this spicy mango chutney to go with our Waitrose beefburgers tonight!
https://www.delscookingtwist.com/mango-chutney/

I used frozen mango. It was very tasty, made about a 450g jar.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I made Nigella’s fish finger bhorta
I stuck to the recipe except that I used thawed frozen spinach
Good, an easy way of making a nice supper out of basic ingredients but I’m not going to get as overexcited as some
Think I might stick to cooking the fish fingers a bit lower and slower than it says on the pack, as Nigella suggests

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/fish-finger-bhorta

[herbidacious Profile]

Thanks. I put it all in, in the end. It worked but I don't think the herbs particularly complemented each other (my gut reaction was that they might not, but also feared they might not work at all.)
It had in it: mushrooms, carrots, celery, leek, garlic, veggie sausages, English mustard, white sauce and cheddar. Something about it didn't taste quite right to me - I don't know why, but it wasn't the herbs. Ah well. I was really looking forward to it. It should, by rights, have been delicious! There's another meal's worth.

[WWordsworth Profile]

We had a takeaway.

Not something we do very often, I think it was our 3rd since March.
Delicious.

[Amyw Profile]

I made Nigella’s fish finger bhorta
I stuck to the recipe except that I used thawed frozen spinach
Good, an easy way of making a nice supper out of basic ingredients but I’m not going to get as overexcited as some
Think I might stick to cooking the fish fingers a bit lower and slower than it says on the pack, as Nigella suggests

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/fish-finger-bhorta

Ah I was quite intrigued by this recipe because I do love a fishfinger . In fact fishfinger sandwiches are one of my favourite type of sandwiches. Might give it a whirl now

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Fish finger bhorta sounds like one of those things I shouldn't knock until I try. Or order if I see it on a menu. Maybe I'd be hooked. It just seems to complicate something that works very well done simply. By the time I've cooked fish fingers I'm happy to eat them as fish fingers.

Is it just me, or is Captain Birds Eye getting younger?

[karadekoolaid Profile]

It had in it: mushrooms, carrots, celery, leek, garlic, veggie sausages, English mustard, white sauce and cheddar

All the veggies, delicious. White sauce and cheddar, perfect. The mustard works well with Welsh Rarebit, but adds a slightly bitter flavour which might just have jarred with the sweet carrots and the leeks.
Parsley would work perfectly, but the sage, as WWordsworth said, is potent and can easily overpower other flavours.
Sage for a vegetarian goes well with artichokes. I made an artichoke tart this week, with a bit of cream, cheese and diced onion - and a pinch or two of sage.
It also works well with pumpkin/squash, as in Sage Butter. Two pasta dishes which are phenomenal with sage butter are pumpkin-stuffed tortellini (or ravioli) and a variety of gnocchi which I discovered in lockdown, called "strangoloprieto" - basically, spinach, potato & ricotta.

[WWordsworth Profile]

Tonight is HM pizza with salad and maybe a few wedges.
And a glass or two of red.

[OneMoreCheekyOne Profile]

We had a dish of chicken legs and thighs with rosemary, bay, garlic, wine, stock, leeks and finished with a splash of cream. With cavolo nero and sautéed potatoes. The girls asked for bread to mop up the last of the sauce so it went down well.

We got a kit from a local florist and made a Christmas wreath this evening...accompanied by a couple of chocolates and some out of date mulled wine. It was at least 3 or 4 years old but I googled and most advice seemed to say drink within 6 months of purchase. We drank it anyway It smelled and tasted ok.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Continuing my slightly experimental return to meat, I got a 3 bone section of beef short rib and slow roasted it to fairly rare last night - the logic being that even with good aged beef it's not a ruinously expensive cut if I can't taste it properly and end up converting the leftovers to chilli, and in any case it arguably has more flavour than any other cut of beef.

Delicious, as it turned, out, served with yorkies and veg - the yorkies worked well too

[Earthmaiden Profile]

OMCO that sounds so Christmassy and lovely! The chicken sounds good too. I had chunky fish fingers and rice with sauteed veggies stirred into it (which is why I refrain from posting here very often .

Sue, that is very good news.

[Gruney2 Profile]

Today, I'll be making Ainsley's fish curry with spinach and coconut, from his "Caribbean Kitchen" book. If it turns out as well as it reads, I'll be well pleased.