Swede and Leek Soup

This came out the newsletter that comes with my veg bag. It's a delicious veg soup, lovely and warming for this chilly weather.

Swede and Leek Soup (from Organiclea)
(Serves 4-6)

2 tbsp oil
700g swede, peeled and diced
225g potatoes, peeled and diced
450g leeks, sliced
1 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
1.5l vegetable stock
salt and pepper
150ml milk

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the swede, potatoes, leeks and garlic for 5 mins.

Add the mixed herbs, veg stock and season.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 mins or until the veg are soft.

Using a hand blender, puree the soup until smooth. Stir in the milk, reheat and serve.

Fish Finger Pie

I took the basic recipe and poshed it up a bit, out of necessity rather than by design. The original recipe is very simple; Frozen fishfingers, baked beans, potatoes and cheese. Out of those ingredients I only had baked beans and cheese, but what I did have was cod, a box of Special K, celeriac and swede, all viable substitutes. So using my initiative, I made my own fish fingers and made a slightly posher and less carb heavy version. I have to say it was delicious and definitely something I'll be making again.

Fish Finger Pie (adapted from This Mummy)
(Serves 4)

1/2 swede, cut into chunks
1/2 celeriac, cut into chunks
1 egg, beaten

85g Kellogs Special K, crushed

zest and juice 1 lemon

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp olive oil

400g skinless white fish, sliced into 12 strips

2 cans baked beans
50-100g cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Put the celeriac and swede in a saucepan full of water and cook for 20-25 mins.

Meanwhile, pour the beaten egg into a shallow dish. Tip the cereal onto a plate. Mix the lemon zest into the breadcrumbs along with the oregano and some salt and pepper.

 

Dip the fish strips into the egg, then roll them in the breadcrumbs.

Put the fish fingers in the bottom of a deep ovenproof dish and bake for 15 mins.

When the fish fingers are cooked, take the dish out of the oven and pour over the cans of baked beans. Return to the oven to warm the beans through for 3-5 mins.

When the celeriac and swede is done, mash with a knob of butter and a splash of milk and set aside.

Spoon the mash over the fingers fingers and beans and top with the grated cheese.

Return to the oven and cook for about 10 mins until the cheese is melted and going golden on top.

Swede, Leek and Potato Gratin

I served this as a side dish to my casserole but there is definitely enough veggies there to make it a main dish with some salad. This was lovely, I actually used creme fraiche rather than double cream but I think you'd get a better texture using cream as the creme fraiche split.

Swede, Leek and Potato Gratin (from a Waitrose Recipe Card)
(Serves 4)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
350g leeks, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 medium swede, peeled and cut into matchsticks
6–8 bay leaves, torn in half
150ml double cream
150ml milk

Preheat the oven to 190C. Melt the oil and butter together in a frying pan and add the leek and garlic. Cook gently for 5 mins until translucent.

Layer the leek mixture, potatoes, swede and bay leaves in a buttered 1.5 litre ovenproof dish and season. Mix together the cream and milk and pour over the vegetables.

Bake for 1 hour until the vegetables are tender and the top golden. Cover with foil if it get too brown on top. Serve.

Swede Chips

I've been experimenting with oven chips recently. I never seem to have enough room in the freezer for frozen oven fries so I tend to make my own. These worked really well, they were crispier than the butternut squash fries I made a couple of weeks ago and had a lovely flavour. They went really well with the veggie burger.

Swede Chips
(Serves 4)
(0 WW ProPoints per serving)

1 large swede, peeled and cut into chips

cooking spray

1 tbsp dried thyme

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 200C. Put the swede into a shallow roasting tin. Sprinkle over the thyme, season and spray with cooking spray. Toss well to make sure everything is covered in cooking spray and then arrange in a single layer in the tin.

Roast for 30-35 mins, turning halfway through cooking, until crisp and golden.

Potato, Swede, Egg

 This is such a simple concept by my what a tasty one. I served it with merguez sausages and green veg.

Potato, Swede, Egg (from Hugh's Three Good Things - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
(Serves 4)

500g swede, chopped 

500g floury potatoes, chopped

100ml whole milk

50g unsalted butter

4 large eggs, at room temperature

salt and pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

 

Place the swede into a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook for about 30 mins until completely tender. Drain, return to the hot pan and allow to steam for 5 mins.

Cook the potatoes in the same way in a separate pan for about 15–20 mins. Drain, return to the hot pan and allow them to steam for 5 mins. 

Mash the potatoes to a soft puree adding the milk and butter until you have the right consistency. Mash the swede in its own pan, then add it to the potato and mash the two together until you have a soft, fluffy, textured mash. Season.

Either spread all the potato and swede mash in a large shallow oven dish, or shape it into 4 rough, shallow cakes and put them into individual baking dishes. If the mash is still hot, put it in the oven for 5–10 mins; if you’re reheating it from cold, allow about 15 mins. It needs to be piping hot in the middle.

Remove from the oven and use the back of a spoon to create four hollows in the mash. Carefully break an egg into each hollow. Return to the oven for 8–10 mins until the egg whites are set but the yolks still runny. Add a grinding of black pepper and serve straight away.

Vegetable and Barley Stew

This is comfort food at its best. Lovely tender root veg with soft barley and then served with crusty bread, its a delight for those cold winter evenings. Mine turned into a kind of barley risotto really but was just delicious. The original recipe calls you to make dumplings on top of the stew at the end, but I had so much bread to use up that I just made the stew and served it with bread.

 

Vegetable and Barley Stew (adapted from Good Food Magazine January 2011)

(Serves 6)

 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 leeks, thickly sliced
1/2 swede, chopped into chunks
2 parsnips, chopped into chunks
2 large carrots, chopped into chunks
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped into chunks
175g pearl barley
225ml white wine
1l vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
small bunch parsley, finely chopped

Heat oil in a large casserole dish. Add onion and cook for 5-6 mins until starting to soften and brown. Add the garlic and leeks for 2 mins, then stir in swede, parsnips and carrots.

Pour in barley and wine, cook until wine has reduced by half. Add stock, bay, thyme, parsley and seasoning. Cover pan, bring to the boil, then simmer for 45 mins until barley and veg are tender. Stir occasionally to stop it catching. Add in the mushrooms and simmer for another 15 mins. Serve with crusty bread.

Daring Cooks December 2012: Shepherd's Pie

Our Daring Cooks’ December 2012 Hostess is Andy of Today’s the Day and Today’s the Day I Cook! Andy is sharing with us a traditional French Canadian classic the Paté Chinois, also known as Shepherd’s pie for many of us, and if one dish says comfort food.. this one is it!

So I hate mince. Well, I will eat it but I wouldn't cook with it myself and can only eat small amounts in one sitting. This I suspect all harks back to my grandmother and her boiled mince and veg, yuck. So I am always looking for ways to make traditional meals, such as chilli, shepherds pie, bolognaise or moussaka using whole chunks of meat instead. One of the variation recipes that Andy showed us was a slow cooker Irish Shepherds Pie, which used chunks of meat, so I ran with that, but I didn't use a slow cooker and I changed the ingredients slightly too. I did have to ring my Mum a couple of times to see if she agreed with what I was doing and generally she did! It was really good, I've tried vegetarian Shepherds Pie before but not a meat version and this one was a winner. I served it with steamed kale and honey roast beetroot.

Irish Shepherds Pie
(Serves 6-8)

1 ¼ kg boneless lamb shoulder or leg, cut in 1 ½ inch cubes
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
1/2 swede, chopped
2-3 tbsp plain flour
30g chopped parsley
1 bay leaf
1½ tsp salt
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ tsp ground pepper
1l stout or dark ale
100g frozen peas, thawed
1kg russet baking potatoes
30g butter
60ml milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a casserole dish and brown the lamb. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Put a little more oil in the pan and sweat the onion for a few minutes until translucent. Then add the parsnip, carrots and swede and fry for about 5 mins until softened.

Add the meat back to the pan and sprinkle over the flour. Stir the flour in well. Add the parsley, bay leaf, thyme and enough stout to cover the meat and veg to the pan and bring to the boil. Boil for about 5 mins.

Transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours. Check after 1 hour to see that it hasn't dried out. If it looks a bit dry add more liquid, either more stout or some beef stock.

Meanwhile, make the mash potato. Boil the potatoes for 15-20 mins until soft and then drain and mash with the butter, milk and nutmeg.

Take the stew out of the oven and add the peas. Change the oven temperature to 200C . Then transfer the stew to an oven proof dish and spread the mash on top.

Bake in oven for about 15 mins, until potatoes are browned and stew is bubbling.