Arabian Squash Casserole

Ingredients

- 4 cups cooked squash, either from 2 cans
or about 1.2kg butternut squash
- 1.5 cups chopped onion, about 2 or 3
- 3 medium bell peppers (2 red and 1 green), chopped finely
- 5 cloves garlic, pressed
- 150g firm yogurt or less for wet squash, can replace this
with cream if you want a heavier dish
- 1 cup feta cheese, about 120 g
- sunflower seeds for topping
- 1 tsp paprika (mild), 1 tsp smoked paprika (optional),
1 tsp chili powder


1. Prep squash: Halve butternut squash, remove seeds, spray with tiny bit
of oil and bake face down in hot oven (175 C) for 20 to 30 minutes, until
squash is soft but not mushy. it will continue to cook once out of the
oven. With a large spoon, remove flesh and discard peels. Mash it.

2. Saute onion in olive oil for about 8 min, then add peppers and garlic
and fry for 5 more minutes.

3. Add spices and pepper, continue to simmer for a few more minutes.

4. Mix squash, sauteed veg and yogurt and feta in bowl, and sprinkle with
sunflower seeds. Put everything in a 180C oven for about 30 minutes.

Gyoza (Japanese dumplings)

Ingredients

500g / 1 pack mince pork

Half white cabbage (par boiled)

3-4 carrots (par boiled)

garlic

ginger

gyoza wrappers (defrost as usually come frozen)

Season;

1tsp sesame oil (optional)

2tsp soy sauce

Dipping Sauce;

White Vinegar

Soy Sauce

Chili oil

• Combine all ingredients and seasoning well (in blender if possible)
  
• Place a teaspoon of filling in the centre of the gyoza wrapper
• Dip fingers in water and put the water around the edge of wrapper
• Make a semi circle by gathering front side and sealing the top
• Heat oil in frying pan
• Put gyoza in pay and fry for 5/6 mins / until bottoms become brown

• 

• Add 1/4 cup water and cover pan steaming the gyoza on a low heat

• Make sure to check the meat is cooked through

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Makes 12 - 14 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 60g unsalted butter (room temp)
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 20g cocoa powder
• 40ml red food colouring
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 120ml buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe;

Preheat oven 170°c (325 °F / Gas 3)

* Beat butter and sugar (medium speed if using electric whisk) until light, fluffy & well mixed.

* While whisking briskly (high speed electric) slowly add egg & beat until mixed through

*In separate bowl mix cocoa powder, food colour and vanilla extract until have thick, dark paste

*Add butter mixture to paste and mix until even (use rubber spatula to clear sides of bowl).

*Slowly whisk in half the buttermilk and beat until well mixed in.

*Add half flour and beat until well mixed through

*Repeat process until all buttermilk and flour are added.

*Whisk briskly (high speed electric) until the mixture is smooth and even.

*Slowly whisk in bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar, beating until mixed well.

* Whisk briskly (high speed electric whisk) for a couple more minutes.

*Spoon mixture in to paper cases until 2/3 full and bake in preheated oven 20-25 mins / until sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean.

* Leave to cool. When cold spoon Cream Cheese Frosting on top.

Cream Cheese Frosting;

1 quantity (recipe recommends 2 quantities for the cupcakes but we only used 1 !)

300g icing sugar

50g unsalted butter (room temp)

125g cream cheese (cold)

• Beat icing sugar and butter until well mixed (medium-slow speed for electric whisk).
• Add cream cheese and beat until evenly mixed through
• Keep beating until frosting is light and fluffy (at least 5 mins - medium-high speed electric whisk). DO NOT OVERBEAT AS QUICKLY GETS RUNNY

Pumpkin/Squash Soup

(Photos to follow soon)

Keeping with the Portuguese style soup, this soup has pretty much just water and vegetables.

As in the previous soup, the base/cream is made with potatoes, carrots, garlic and onion. Since it was supposed to fit in with a Halloween spirit, I added a butternut squash as the main ingredient (proportionally more than any other or almost as much as all the others together (but you can have even more)). The easiest way to do the cream then is to simply cut everything in pieces, boil it and finally 'mash' it with a stick blender. Add more or less water depending on how thick you like your soup. This cream could already be 'the soup'.

In this case however I decided to add some small bits of squash, carrot, parsley, and some couscous-shaped pasta to the soup, just to make it look nicer. Wait until this is all cooked and it's ready to eat.

Don't forget to add salt to the cream/base, and I also like to use some chicken stock.

Dan's Pea Soup

Peas (Duh): About 1 - 1.5 cup(s) per serving

Vegetable stock sufficient to cook the peas, and have a bit extra

Crème Fraiche

Handful of fresh mint, finely chopped

Bacon, preferably thick, chopped into small chucks

1) Fry up the bacon, good and hot so it browns all over and starts to crisp up

2) Bring stock to the boil and add the peas

3) Cook the peas until they are almost done. They should still have plenty of bite. Don’t worry, they will keep cooking after you….

4) Drain peas – put the mint in the bottom of the colander so the hot stock drains through it. Reserve the stock

5) Mash peas with a blender / food processor. Keep them coarse.

6) Add enough stock to cover the pure and mix together

7) Taste and season – don’t forget the back will be salty, and the crème fraiche creamy!

8) Finish with crème Fraiche and top with bacon

9) Eat

Potatoes and carrot soup

Hi guys

just so I won't forget to practice, I wanted to post this soup recipe for you.
It is very similar to the one Natália has already published, but it is a bit different. :-)
So here it is.

Ingredients:
- two carrots, sliced
- three to four medium-size white potatoes, in chunks
- 1 onion, chopped or grated
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 glass of milk

* Cook the carrots and the potatoes until they are very soft. Put them aside, but don't throw the water away.
* Chop or grate the onion and fry it on the butter until soft and gold.
* In a blender, put the fried onion, the potatoes, carrots with half the water they were cooked in, and the glass of milk. Mix everything together. You can add a bit more of the water if it is too thick.
* Put the soup back in the pan and simmer until it boils.

Serve with bread and a mature cheese.

Vegetable (Spinach) Soup

Dear friends,

These are some guidelines that you can use to do different vegetable soups. This time we did a spinach one, but you can do it with different vegetables.
It takes about 20 minutes to peel things, 20/25 to do the base and other 15/20 for the vegetable to cook. That is, depending on your choices, it takes between 40-60 minutes.

For the base of the soup I usually use potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic. The quantities and proportions will depend on how thick you like your base/soup and the kind of vegetable you intend to add (sometimes, for a spinach soup for example, more carrots and less potatoes tastes nicer). As a guide for a 2 litre (of water) medium thick soup, you can use 4 or 5 medium/big potatoes, about 3 big carrots, 1/2 onion and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic.

I also tend to add some chicken stock (1/2 cube); add salt to taste. Bring everything to the boil and, when its all cooked (try with a fork), take it out of the hob for a few minutes and blend it all together. You should now have a nice soup base. You can also add different items to this base such as butternut squash or pumpkin.

After the base is ready, put it in the cooker again and add your 'vegetable', washed and sliced/cut in smaller pieces, if necessary. These can include spinach, cabbage, runner beans, leeks, or anything else that occurs to you. You can even use a mix. It looks nice if you also add some sliced carrots (about 1/2 or 1/3) or pumpkin, and some bits of rice or small pieces of pasta (1 small handful). Wait until everything is cooked and add some olive oil (2 or 3 soup spoons) just before turning the cooker off. Your soup is ready to eat.

If you prefer smoother soups, you can cook everything at the same time and blend it all together. You can also add water whenever necessary/desired (but it is faster to cook the base in just enough water and then add for the vegetables' part). If your soup comes out too thin, you can cheat a bit by adding mashed potatoes (flour).