typically, yet another pumpkin soup recipe

We might be a month or two late on this in some parts of the world, but where I am, we're only just sleeping at night without the air con blasting and instead enjoying open windows and a cooling breeze to fall asleep with. The last of the summer's corn and green beans meet the first of the autumn squashes and pumpkins here. If I am a little late in the day, save this thought for about 10 months form now, otherwise, all year round supermarkets are great places these days. This particular soup is in kind inspired by the delightful Chilean dish porotos granados, but a pumpkin soup is a pumpkin soup at the end of the day isn't it?

 

Pumpkin, sweetcorn and bean soup

 

Serves 4 with the windows open, 6 it they're shut

 

2 tblsp rapeseed or olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp sweet, smoked paprika

2 tblsp chopped oregano (or marjoram)

100g small dried beans (pinto or cannellini), soaked overnight, or a 400g tin of beans, drained and rinsed

1 litre vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

750g squash or pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks

200g green beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces

Kernels cut from 2 corn cobs

Sea salt and ground black pepper

 

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the paprika and a tablespoon of the oregano. Cook for a minute more.

 

The dried beans version
Drain the beans and add to the pan with the stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the beans are completely tender (cooking times for dried beans vary; this may take over an hour). Add the squash, stir and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the squash is just tender, add the green beans and corn kernels, and simmer for five minutes more.

 

The tinned beans version
Add the drained, rinsed beans, stock and bay leaf at the same time as the squash, and simmer until the squash is just tender, around 10-15 minutes. Add the green beans and corn, and simmer for a few minutes more.

 

To finish both versions, season generously, stir in the remaining oregano, leave to settle for a couple of minutes and serve.
 

Baked pheasant with figs and marsala sauce

Serves 4

Just in the same way that the mushrooms are out in force, the feathered game season has hit us hard and fast, with early offerings of pheasant. Some are saying it's a better grouse season than first expected, which bodes well for the next couple of months. I'm as strong an advocate for this whole seasonal eating malarky as I am a wearer of colourful socks, so its a bit of a passion of mine I guess. As much as I'm loving my current city posting in the States, I do miss getting out there with nature and finding my own dinner, little beats it. Even the youngest of pheasant can have quite a powerful aroma and gamey flavour, and is best paired with a strongly flavoured sauce. Caramelised figs cut through the richness in this dish, but you could also do the same with peeled and quartered apples and pears.

75g butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 oven-ready pheasants
250ml dry white wine
2 garlic cloves, chopped
500ml good quality chicken stock
6 ripe firm purple figs, halved
2 shallots, chopped
1 tsp plain flour
250ml marsala
2 tblsp of flat leaf parsley, freshly chopped
Handful of toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Melt two thirds of the butter in a cast-iron casserole dish or roasting pan. Season the pheasants, then sauté in the butter on all sides until lightly golden. Add the wine, garlic and chicken stock and roast in the oven, cooking the birds for 20 minutes on each side. Remove the birds and keep warm. Strain the cooking liquor, then boil until it has reduced by half.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a frying pan and cook the figs, cut-side down, for 2-3 minutes without turning, until lightly caramelised. Remove the figs, reserving the butter, and set aside.

Add the shallots to the pan and sauté for 8-10 minutes until soft and golden. Sprinkle over the flour, then gradually stir in the marsala. Bring to the boil and reduce by two thirds.

Stir in the remaining cooking liquor and any juices from the pheasants. Cook for about 5 minutes until you have a smooth sauce. Add the figs to the sauce, then simmer gently for 3 minutes. Check for seasoning and stir in the parsley. Carve the pheasant, pour the sauce over and sprinkle with the walnuts. Serve with fried polenta or mashed potato.


For skills, techniques and tips... kitchen how to... 

Mushrooms on toast

Serves 4

The mushrooms are out! I picked a couple of handsome puffballs tucked under the safety of a huge yew tree this morning, and I just feel there's a huge season just about to explode. This really is the time of year when nature shows off some of her more wonderous creations.

A terrific Sunday brunch number here, and with the addition of a poached egg, an awesome start to a lazy day. I love this as it is, but if you’re at the right time of the year when wild mushrooms are in season, or your farmers market has some interesting varieties, do not hold back. Otherwise, good firm all year round varieties will hold up well enough.

Remove the bread element and throw the remainder of this recipe through hot pasta and there’s another dish to add to your repertoire too. Take the same ingredients and throw over a couple of cups of hot stock, cook for another 5 minutes then liquidise and you've got soup!

12 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tblsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

Few thyme sprigs, leaves only

1 garlic clove (unpeeled)

lightly crushed sea salt and black pepper

1 tsp caster sugar

14 oz sliced mushrooms

Few knobs of butter

Splash of sherry vinegar

Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

4 thick slices of rustic white bread

Sauté the shallots in a pan over medium heat with the olive oil, thyme, garlic and seasoning for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Add the sugar and increase the heat to high. Stir and cook for a few more minutes until the shallots are lightly caramelised.

Add the mushrooms and butter. Fry for a couple of minutes until lightly browned, then splash in the sherry vinegar and add a little more seasoning. Cook for a minute or two until the liquid has evaporated. Toss in the parsley.

Toast the bread and place a slice on each warm plate. Spoon the shallots and mushrooms on top and drizzle with a little more olive oil to serve, if you like shave over some Parmesan too. I'm actually now pretty freezing, so the soup version gets the nod for lunch...

Lamb shanks with broad beans

Serves 4

If it's not a pie, it's got to be a braised dish, and lamb shanks don't often fail to hit the mark. This was last night's number, cooked the day before and reheated gently to devour - better depth of flavour and maturity on the 2nd day for sure. The juice, as much as the meat, is where this dish really is, rich and heady, mopped up with anything and everything that comes to hand, one of those nights where someone to offer a belly rub at the end of it all perfects the ultimate dining experience, for me anyway...

1 tblsp olive oil
4 lamb shanks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 fresh bouquet garni (sprig each of parsley and thyme, and a bay leaf)
400ml white wine
400g new potatoes
400g shelled broad beans, individually skinned (see below)
2 tblsp chopped fresh mint
3 tblsp crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Lightly oil a roasting tin, add the lamb shanks and season, then place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic and bouquet garni to the roasting tin and roast for a further 20 minutes.

Add the wine and new potatoes to the lamb, mix well with the juices and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. Add the prepared beans and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

When the lamb is cooked through, remove from the roasting tin and keep warm. Place the tin directly on the stove top and bring the juices to a simmer. Stir in the chopped mint and crème fraîche.

Serve the lamb shanks in wide bowls and ladle in the vegetables and juice.

Note: to skin fresh broad beans, plunge them into a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes, then drain and peel off the skins. If using frozen beans they can be peeled once defrosted.

Spicy pork and chilli pepper goulash

Serves 4-6

The idea of cooking a tough piece of pork in a lovely pepper stew to make it extremely tender and melt-in-your-mouth is something I find quite exciting. This dish, in particular, is one of my favourites and, unless you’ve got a strange aversion to chillies and peppers, you’ll definitely end up making it again and again. It’s also one of those dishes that tastes great when reheated the day after it has been made. You’ve got a whole range of chilli and pepper flavours going on, from smoked paprika to fresh chillies, and fresh peppers to sweet grilled and peeled ones.

2kg pork shoulder, off the bone in one piece, skin off, fat on

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced

2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

2 generously heaped tblsp mild smoked paprika, plus extra for serving

2 tsp ground caraway seeds

A small bunch of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked

5 peppers (use a mixture of colours), sliced

1 x 280g jar of grilled peppers, drained, peeled and sliced

1 x 400g tin of good-quality plum tomatoes

4 tblsp redwine vinegar

400g basmati or long-grain rice, washed

1 x 142ml pot of sour cream

Zest of 1 lemon

A small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Get a deep, ovenproof stew pot, with a lid, and heat it on the hob. Score the fat on the pork in a crisscross pattern all the way through to the meat, then season generously with salt and pepper. Pour a good glug of olive oil into the pot and add the pork, fat side down. Cook for about 15 minutes on a medium heat, to render out the fat, then remove the pork from the pot and put it to one side.

Add the onions, chillies, paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram (or oregano) and a good pinch of salt and pepper to the pot. Reduce the heat and gently cook the onions for 10 minutes, then add the sliced peppers, grilled peppers and the tinned tomatoes. Put the pork back into the pot, give everything a little shake, then pour in enough water to cover the meat. Add the vinegar – this will give the flavour a nice little twang. Bring to the boil, put the lid on top, then place in the preheated oven for 3 hours.

You will know when the meat is cooked, as it will be tender and sticky, and it will break up easily when pulled apart with two forks. If it’s not quite there yet, put the pot back into the oven and just be patient for a little longer.

When the meat is nearly ready, cook the rice in salted, boiling water for 10 minutes, until it’s just undercooked, then drain in a sieve, reserving some of the cooking water and pouring it back into the pan. Place the sieve over the pan on a low heat and put the lid on the pan. Leave to steam dry for 10 minutes – this makes the rice lovely and fluffy.

Stir the sour cream, lemon zest and most of the parsley together in a little bowl. When the meat is cooked, take the pot out of the oven and taste the goulash.

You’re after a balance of sweetness from the peppers and spiciness from the caraway seeds. Tear or break up the meat, and serve the goulash in a big dish or bowl, with a bowl of the steamed rice and the flavoured sour cream. Sprinkle with the rest of the chopped parsley, and tuck in.

Chicken, leek and morel pie

Serves 6

The kids are back at school, the Summer glow is gently fading and the lid of the Pimms bottle looks like it's starting to crust up for the colder months already. Can only mean one thing, and Autumn is just around the corner - pie season in my book. I'm so looking forward to the sheer comfort in longer cooked meats, braised dishes while still making the most of the gardens and hedgerows as they still offer an abundance of flavour. This pie uses morels, a little early in the season yet, and a bit of a luxury even at their peak of availability, so don't worry about substituting them for something simpler in price.

Pastry
225g strong white flour
170g cold diced butter
Pinch of salt
Cold water to mix

Filling
6 chicken breasts, diced
20g dried morels, soaked and halved (reserve the soaking water)
10 young leeks, washed and sliced
100g tarragon, chopped
300ml double cream
15g flour
15g butter
Salt and black pepper

For the pastry, mix the butter into the flour with the salt till crumbly, add enough water till a clean smooth dough is formed without over mixing, chill in fridge for at least an hour before rolling.

Poach the chicken, leeks and morels gently in the morel water for about 20 to 30 minutes, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.

Strain the liquid and add the butter to this mix and return to the heat. Once the butter is foaming, and coated all ingredients, dust with the flour and continue to cook for 5 minutes further.

At this stage add 100ml of poaching liquid, the cream, tarragon and a touch more seasoning, bring back to the boil and remove from heat.

Fill a suitable pie dish with the filling, and top with the pastry, rolled out to ¼ inch thickness. Brush the top with egg wash, and bake in an oven at 180c for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Lentil and feta salad

Serves 2

I long for the rough, earthlike properties that good lentils offer, and have always had a thing about autumnal flavours even at this time of the year. Lentils will sit happily with almost all game dishes, good firm fleshed sea fish and all members of the mushroom family, but I can think of fewer better partners than the sharpness of a good quality feta. If you find you've overdone the quantity of lentils here, then with what you have left loosened with a few splashes of stock and blend with a knob of butter for one of the most underrated soups known to man...

150g small dark green lentils, puy if you can get them
A couple of bay leaves and a big sprig of thyme
A stalk of celery and a carrot
2 medium red onions
Olive oil
400g feta cheese kept whole in 2 pieces
Good handful of fresh mint leaves
Warm pita bread to serve

Set the oven at 200c/gas mark 6. Rinse the lentils under running water, checking for little stones, and bring them to the boil in fresh water with the bay, celery and carrot, peel the vegetables but leave whole to fish out at the end. Turn down to a rolling simmer and cook for around 25-30 minutes until tender but still retaining a bite.

Peel the onions and slice them as thin as you possibly can. Break the slices into rings and put them into a mixing bowl with the leaves from the thyme sprigs and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Toss and season with plenty black pepper.

Put a piece of kitchen foil or greaseproof paper on a baking sheet or ovenproof dish and scatter half the seasoned onion rings on it. Lay the blocks of feta on top and scatter over the remaining onion.

Gather up the foil loosely over the top to seal then bake for 20-25 minutes, by which time the onions should have softened and the feta just beginning to crumble.

Drain the lentils, remove the flavouring vegetables, chop the mint leaves and mix them with two tablespoons of olive oil. Toss the drained lentils in with the oil and mint then grind over both black pepper and a little salt.

Divide them between two warm plates then lay a piece of feta and some of the onions on top. The hot, soft cheese will crumble a bit more for sure, but this is all the better. Serve with any hot soft bread, pita is perfect, to scoop up the combination as you devour...