Butternut Squash and Leek Quiche

Butternut Squash and Leek Quiche

Recipe
Ingredients

Butternut Squash , Leeks , Shortcrust Pastry ( Flour ,Butter , Water ) , Milk Eggs , Salt Pepper

1. Roasted butternut squash ( cut the squash into chunks and drizzle with oil roast at 200deg for approx 20 minutes )
2. Make shortcrust pastry (200g flour crumbed with 100g butter and approx 10ml of cold water added slowly to form pastry .)
3. Roll out and line a 15in tart/quich tin first lined with baking paper ( Quick tip scrunch up the baking paper into a ball first to easily line the tray , exact cutting not required.
4. Meanwhile cook the leeks in a little butter til soft
5. Beat three eggs into half a pint of milk . Season well with salt and pepper .
6. Scatter leeks and butternut squash into a pastry case , pour over the eggs and milk and bake for 30 minutes at 175degC.

Next time I might add some walnuts . I love that these recipes come about solely from my vegebox which inspires me on a weekly basis to think …. not exactly outside the box more around the box.

Butternut Squash Stuffed with leeks ,garlic , walnuts, fennel leaves and goats cheese

The leek /butternut combination I know to be good from whole roasted butternut squash in the winter ,

Roast the squash first in the oven at max for 20 mins ( wrap the squah in foil for speedy cooking) then open and and scoop out the flesh mix it with stuffing ingredients ( in this case leeks , garlic walnuts , fennel leaves and goats cheese . Return to oven and roast off for 15 minutes……………….

If you just want to cook butternut squash I like to cut into into chunks and roast with oil and cumin seed as a good accompanying vegetable

Smoked Salmon and Leek Quiche

1. Make Shortcrust pastry (200g flour mixed with 100g butter and cold water to form pastry .) Roll out and bake blind in a a 22in quich tin at 200deg for 15 mins.
2. Meanwhile cook the leeks in a little butter .
3. Beat three eggs into half a pint of milk .
4. Season well with salt and pepper .
5. Scatter leeks and smoked salmon over the baked pastry shell , pour over the eggs and milk and bake for another ten minutes. Serve with watercress salad

Picnic Salads

This time of year I want to be outside all day so this Saturday I dragged my weekend guest out for the day . After a shakey start a stand up confrontation between a cyclist and a goth on the train we arrived at our destination in brilliant sunshine and I calmed with weekend guest’s fragile Midlander nerves with a pint of finest Somerset ale .

Off we set off on a gentle stroll through dandelion fields , woods of wild garlic .a bubbling river friendly sheep and unfreindly “private piss off we fish here” notices . I finally allowed us to sit , eat a picnic and enjoy a bottle on wine close to the walks end .My drinking capacity has dimished most pathetically so I was more than a little merry for the end of the walk and train journey back home

I do take picnics quite seriously and tiffin carrier is the perfect vessel , stainless steel containers that fasten together with a tight seal and look cute as anything for serving your food .

Cold chicken thighs swimming in dressing and olives and leftover smoked salmon and leek quiche its been waiting in the freezer for a proper outing

Not an accompaniment a meal in themselves , Bright and colourful salads stay cool even using up more wintry vegetables butternut squash , cauliflower and beetroot.

Cauliflower Preserved Lemon and Coriander Salad

Mix cooked but al dente cauliflower with chopped preserved lemons , corainder see , preserved lemon liquor olive oil black pepper and some sesame seeds if you have them

Roasted Butternut Squash , Parma Ham, Feta Cheese and Mint Salad

Roasted Butternut Squash , Parma Ham, Feta Cheese and Mint Salad … pretty obvious recipe mix all the ingredients together and dress with a little lemon juice and black pepper.

Marinated Beetroot 

Boil beetroot in water til soft , while still warm marinate in cumin and coriander seeds cider vinegar olive oil garlic and a pinch of brown sugar

I am still working on a good cold pasta salad recipe but cous cous salad is a staple for the summer light gentle and keeps well no need for any oil mayonnaise etc . There will be a huge bowl of it in my fridge all year.

Cous Cous with fresh chilli tomato and coriander 

Prepare the cous cous by just covering with boiling water , leave for 10 minutes allow to cool , then stir in chopped vegetables .

Summer Salads .. surely not seasonal

I try to eat seasonally , partly environmental and partly cos unseasonal produce really lacks flavour … however I feel like I have been doing without salads a long time this winter , with the sun bursting through the last few days its been a quest to be ingenious with the ingredients currently available

Though this salad may look like it made in the the height of summmer , but was a
welcome lunch when I had no time to shop and been away for nearly two
weeks

Easily made from my general stock of ingredients … a. tin of chickpeas , chopped dried chilli , the goats cheese I keep in oil in the fridge , preserved lemons currrently a year old and the mint that has just begun to re-spout in my pots on my kitchen window sill

This “not quite nicoise salad” is again a burst of a summer but not relying on out of season supermarket ingredients , boiled eggs with the new potatoes just starting to come into season , spinach , red pepper again maintained in oil and a little vinegar , capers, olives , sun dried tomatoes … a cucumber came in the vegebox at my weekend hosts to add some crunch

this is using up leftover lamb and cauliflower from a roast dinner , My weekend host had some flat leaf parsley so I was able to add some green but I would lovel to have added a little preserved lemon …. well seasoned and delicious

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Hurray for Bank Holidays

To me this is the image that captures a wonderful bank holiday weekend in Yorkshire … in the morning stripped leftover garlic + thyme roasted chicken eaten the night before and made sandwiches for walking . Added water and carrots and onions chicken and juices brought to the boil and left in the pot. After walking all day returned to the smallest cottage in Settle throw some wild garlic and heat the soup through served in a bowl bought the day before at the local Ingleton Pottery . I had such a lovely holiday walking and walking and walking …It could sometimes be bleak in Yorkshire but always beautiful

The return journey took us past the new Andy Goldsworthy exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park , I have been a fan for a very long time so it was a massive treat and though very busy definitely worth a visit.. and will be back to YSP again soon

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Off For the Bank Holiday…..

Once upon a time a man cooked me fantastic Belly Pork in Wales

…..didn’t freak out when we ended up halfway up a mountain with the fog moving in

and this weekend …… he is willing to risk the Yorkshire Dales ….