Queen of Puddings

Ingredients
1 pint (570 ml) milk
½ oz (10 g) butter
4 oz (110 g) fresh white breadcrumbs
2 oz (50 g) golden caster sugar, plus 1 teaspoon
grated zest of 1 small lemon
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons raspberry jam
(although I used blackcurrant)
First, pour the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, breadcrumbs, 1 oz (25 g) of the sugar and the lemon zest, and leave for 20 minutes to allow the breadcrumbs to swell.

Now separate the eggs, lightly beat the yolks and add them to the cooled breadcrumb mixture. Pour it all into the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until set.

Meantime, in a small saucepan melt the raspberry jam over a low heat and, when the pudding is ready, remove it from the oven and spread the jam carefully and evenly all over the top.

Next, using an electric hand whisk, lightly beat the egg whites in a large scrupulously clean bowl until stiff, then whisk in 1 oz (25 g) of the caster sugar and spoon this meringue mixture over the pudding. Finally, sprinkle the teaspoon of caster sugar over it all and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the topping is golden brown.

Pumpkin Soup

1 large pumpkin
1 pint of stock (Veg or chicken)
2 cloves garlic
1 medium chilli
1 can coconut milk
lots of corriander

Boil the pumpkin in the stock until tender. Drain but retain the cooking water.

In a blender, combine the chilli, garlic and corriander. Give it a good wizz.

When the pumpkin is soft drain. Combine the pumpkin with the chilli/garlic/coriander mix and blend until smooth.
(I did this with a handblender in my big cooking pot).

In your cooking pot add the coconut milk to the pumbkin mixture and simmer. If the soup is too thick add some of the reserved cooking water.

Serve hot in large bowls, garnished with chopped corriander.

Scallops and Chorizo

110g chorizo sausage
400g small scallops
juice of half a lemon
4tbsp chopped parsley

Slice the chorizo into rounds. Dry fry until crisp on either side. Remove the chirizo to a bowl and fry the scallops, in the oil released from the chirizo, for about 1 minute per side.
Return the chirizo to the pan, add the lemon juice and let it bubble for a few seconds before arranging on a serving plate and sprinkling with parsley.

Mussels

Once regarded as the poor relation of the shellfish family because of their small size and relative abundance, mussels are now very popular and fairly cheap.

The most common Blue or European mussels have sleek, shiny shells and tender, nutritious flesh. Like oysters, they are indiscriminate feeders and must be gathered from unpolluted waters. It is because of this that most mussels that you find in supermarkets and fishmongers are farmed.

Peak season for fresh mussels is October to March.

You can buy mussels in their shells year-round from the chiller cabinet, or, ready shelled versions come frozen, smoked and bottled in brine or vinegar.


Try not to choose mussels that have chipped, broken or damaged shells. Fresh mussels tend to be tightly closed. Allow about 500g per person for a main meal, and half that amount for a starter, or if they are to be added to pasta or soup.

To clean mussels, scrub in plenty of cold water to remove barnacles or sand. Discard any that float to the top. Give any open mussels a sharp tap with a knife and discard any that fail to close (they are dead). Remove the 'beard' - a fibrous clump of hairs that sprouts from the shell - by giving it a sharp tug towards the hinge end of the mussel. Place cleaned mussels in a fresh bowl of cold water until ready to use. Change this water two or three times to remove any salt or sand that the mussels may expel.

Mussels are highly perishable and should be eaten on the day of purchase.

Butternut and Sweet Potato Soup

350g diced butternut squash and sweet potato
750ml hot chicken stock
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground mace
good grinding of black pepper
4tsps single cream

Put the butternut and sweet potato in a saucepan, with the chicken stock and spices.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Puree the soup. Pour into serving bowls, garnished with cream swirls.

Banana and Walnut Cake

100g butter (soft)
140g light muscovado sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
100g chopped walnuts
2 ripe banana's mashed
225g self rising flour

Preheat the oven to Gas 4. Line a 2lb loaf tin. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs. Set aside 25g walnuts, then fold the rest into the creamed mixture, with the banana's. Fold in the flour. Pour into the lined baking tin and sprinkle with the reserved walnuts.

Bake for 55 mins - 1 hour until risen.

Welsh Cakes

115g butter
225g self raising flour
75g caster sugar
75g currants
1 egg beaten.

Rub the butter into the flour, then stir in the sugar and currants. Tip in the egg and mix to a dough. Chill the dough in the fridge for approx 30 minutes.
On a floured surface, roll out the welsh cakes to a 1 cm thickness. Stamp out thin rounds with a 6.5com fluted cutter.
Heat up a griddle pan. Drop a welsh cake onto the hot griddle and leave it for approx 5 minutes to brown, then flip over and do the other side. Cook in batches, taking care not to over-crowd the griddle.

October Seasonal foods

Fruit and Vegetables: elderberries, figs, watercress, squash, beetroot, courgettes, mushrooms, marrow, apples, kale, pumpkin

Meat, Poultry, Game: Autumn lamb, grouse, guinea fowl, partridge

Fish: oysters, mussels