Autumn warmer

It has gone very cold and dark all of a sudden, so comfort food is on the menu. And by comfort food I mean stodge. I think this was designed for autumn, the colours reflect what is happening outside, in a ‘crisp autumn morning’ rather than a ‘bloody hell it’s miserable’ kind of way, and it is really warm and satisfying.

Half of this dish is basically Nigella’s double potato and halloumi bake, served, to up the stodg-osity, with polenta. Really it probably shouldn’t work but, like chip butties, I think it does. To make it even more seasonal you could use pumpkin instead of, or along with, the sweet potato.

For the bake
1 sweet potato, chopped into large-ish chunks
1 potato, or a similar amount of new potatoes, cut into slightly smaller chunks
1 onion, cut into six long ways
4 cloves garlic, in their skins
8 mushrooms, whole or halved
8 peppers from a jar
3 tbsp olive oil
½ block of halloumi
Salt and pepper

For the polenta
½ cup quick cook polenta
2 cups water
Salt
Few slices halloumi, diced up
Pinch cayenne
½ tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
Knob butter

Pre-heat your oven to 200C.

Put the potatoes, onion, garlic, mushrooms, peppers and oil in a large baking tray, give it a good grind of pepper and mix everything up. Put it in the oven for 45 minutes.

After 45 minute, whack the heat up, and top the bake with the halloumi and put back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile bring out 2 cups of water to the boil, pour in the polenta in a slow steady stream, stirring continuously. Cook for 1 minute (you want it to be soft) then remove from the heat and stir in the other ingredients.

To serve, put a blob of polenta on two plates, and top with the bake. Eat and then relax, feeling very full and happy.

Serves two greedy people.

Five in one hash with eggs

So called because I reckon (probably wrongly) it must cover all of your five a day and you cook it all in one pan – so minimum washing up.

I was feeling a little bit poorly when I cooked this, and it really met the comfort food, stodge requirements. I suppose it is really just a tarted up egg and chip – and really who could complain at that. However because of all the veggies you can pretend it is almost healthy! The curry powder gives it a gentle spice and I know the smoked cheese sounds odd with it but trust me it works.

Obviously all the ingredients and quantities are entirely reliant on what you like and/or have lying around – pumpkin or peppers would be really good as would blue or goats cheese – and instead of the curry powder you could use thyme or sage or make it good and spicy with some chilli, some smoked paprika would also be nice...

200g potatoes, cut into about 1cm pieces
1 carrot, cut into about 1cm pieces
4-6 small onions, peeled and halved
2 cloves garlic, still in its skin
2 tbsp oil
8 mushrooms, quarters
4 baby courgettes, cut into 1cm chunks
8 tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 tsp curry powder
Salt
Pepper
2 eggs,
Smoked cheese, grated

Heat the oil in a frying pan and throw in the potatoes, carrot, garlic or onions. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring regularly. When they are nearly cooked and just turning golden add the mushrooms and courgettes and cook for another 5 minutes or until everything is just cooked.

Next add the tomatoes and curry powder and stir everything together. Fish out the garlic and squeeze the soft cloves into the mixture (you might need to leave them on one side for a mo so you don’t burn your fingers). Season and then give everything one last good mix.

Finally clear two spaces and crack the eggs into the pan, cover and fry until the eggs have set.

Dole everything out onto two plates, sprinkle the cheese over the top and serve with crusty bread.

Serves 2

Homity pie

This is one of the first veggie recipes that became part of my regular repertoire. It’s basically a potato pie, which sounds a bit dull and austere. In reality there are so many other ingredients that make it completely delicious. I use some basic ingredients every time I make this - potato, cheese, onion and garlic - and vary others – mustard or parsley; egg, milk, cream or butter – depending on how I feel and what I have in.

I hate recipes that stipulate ‘mashed potato’ as though you just buy it like that and not that you have to cook the potatoes for 20 minutes and then mash them, practically doubling any washing up you may create. I have developed a strategy to deal with this – it’s called a microwave.
Jacket potatoes done just in the microwave are generally rubbish but they are ideal for making mashed potatoes – a 10 minute zap, then scoop out the soft middle and mash with a fork. You can also bake the shells - drizzled with a little oil, salt and pepper - for 10-15 minutes to make scrummy potato skins.

I also made a cauliflower salad to go along side with this, which was basically blanched cauliflower dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, tarragon and parsley.

100g flour
50g butter
2 tbsp water
1 large potato (microwaved and mashed as detailed above)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup grated cheese
1 tbsp cream (or butter, or milk or 1 egg)
5 sprigs parsley, chopped (or a tsp mustard)

Pre-heat your oven to 210C

This is a really simple way of making pastry, but in all honesty generally I just use ready made! Combine the flour and butter with a fork until they resemble breadcrumbs. Then bring it all together with the water (you may not need it all). Cover in clingfilm and put in the fridge until you need it.

Fry the onion, with a little salt, in the oil until soft. Then combine the potato, garlic, onion, half the cheese, cream and parsley with a little salt and pepper.

Roll out the pastry and line a buttered tart tin. Pile in the potato mixture and the top with the remaining cheese.

Put in the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is cooked and the top is golden.

Serve warm with salad or hot with creamed spinach and crisp potato skins.

Serves two, with left overs

Aloo Gobi and Bhurji

I first had bhurji after a night out, when my best friend and her husband whipped up it up along with some homemade chapattis, quite a feat after a shandy or three. I can confirm it is the perfect late night snack.

It’s basically curried scrambled eggs which sounds odd at best but tastes amazing - proper comfort food. I was taught to cook it at a party. I was obviously very keen to learn to make proper Indian food and my friend was pleased to gain a sous chef.

Really it is a breakfast dish (like scrambled eggs). But, being a little traditional first thing in the morning, I prefer it for tea with aloo gobi or saag panner.

Aloo Gobi

1 large potato, cut into ½ cm pieces
1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ chilli, chopped
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp turmeric

Heat the oil over a medium heat and then fry the potato until golden and cooked through, then set them aside.

Fry the mustard and cumin until they start to pop, then add the onion fry for a minute before adding the garlic, chilli and spices. Cook for another minute before adding the potatoes and cauliflower. Season well and cook for about 5 minutes until the cauliflower is done (longer if you like it a bit softer) adding a splash of water if you need it.

Bhurji

2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
½ chilli, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten

Fry the onions until very soft. Add the tomato, garlic and chilli and fry until the tomatoes have collapsed completely and the whole mixture is quite saucy.

Add the spices and salt, stir and cook for 1 minute. Add the eggs and scramble to your taste.
Serve with naan breads or chapattis and yogurt.

 Serves two