Jul 28th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
I’m originally from England and can’t remember ever having pumpkin soup when I lived there. It was only when I came to Australia I tried it – and was smitten. I’ve been making this pumpkin soup recipe for years. It’s very easy to make and totally delicious.
A good soup starts with good quality stock and this pumpkin soup recipe uses my chicken stock recipe as a base. If you’ve made the stock previously, your preparation time will be less than ten minutes for this recipe. How much stock you put in will depend on how thick you like your soup and also how big your pumpkin is. As a guide, a 1kg pumpkin will need around 1 litre of stock and serve approx 4 people.
Pumpkin Soup Recipe – Ingredients
- Approx 1 Litre of chicken stock
- Approx 1 kg chopped pumpkin
- Crusty bread to serve (optional)
- Fresh cream and chopped parsley to serve (both optional)
Pumpkin Soup Recipe – Method
- Put chicken stock and chopped pumpkin in a large saucepan
- Bring to the boil and simmer for around 30 minutes
- Let the mixture cool before pouring into a food processor (aka whizzer)
- Whiz until smooth
- Reheat and serve with cream and chopped parsley, if desired
Variations
- If you’re short of pumpkin, add a few carrots or a potato or two
- Nice served with croutons
- I particularly like black pepper to serve
Handy Hints
- Pumpkin can be a nightmare to peel. I cut the whole pumpkin into thick slices then cut off the hard peel using a large, sharp knife on a chopping board. You’ll loose a bit of the pumpkin on the rounded edge, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
- Chopped pumpkin is delicious roasted in the oven. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and shake over some chili flakes – delicious. Very nice used as a layer in veggie lasagna.
- You can make funky patterns and shapes when you add the cream!
Pumpkin soup recipe – another dinner in ten minutes recipe for you to try. Looking forward, as always, to your comments.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Easy Snacks | 5 Comments »
Jun 21st, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
Don’t you just love pancakes!
Pancakes are a very popular breakfast choice at our house. The smell of pancakes wafting up the stairs, first thing in the morning, is the best way I know of getting two teenage boys out of bed.
They are so easy to make, as this how to make pancakes recipe will explain.
This recipe will make 4-6 large pancakes. It depends on how thick you like them – and how big your fry pan is. I usually make large pancakes that fill the whole pan. You can of course make 2 or 3 smaller ones in the pan at the same time if you prefer.
To keep it simple, I use a cup measure for this How to Make Pancakes recipe. The cup should hold approx 250 ml/8 fl ozs of liquid.
How to Make Pancakes – Ingredients
- 2 Cups of milk – I use soy
- 1 and a half Cups plain flour
- Two Eggs
- Table Spoon oil – I use Olive Oil
- Extra oil for cooking in fry pan
How to Make Pancakes – Method
- Put all ingredients in a screw top jar of plastic container and shake vigorously until smooth (great for biceps)
- Alternatively, put ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth
- Heat extra oil in fry pan
- Once oil is hot, add enough pancake mixture to spread evenly over base of pan
- Cook over moderately high heat until crisp and browned on under-side
- Optional – toss pancake over to cook other side (like they do on Shrove Tuesday) – easier with a smaller pan
- Alternatively, flip over with a fish slice (safer, but not as much fun)
- Cook on other side
Serving Suggestions/Tips
Don’t think pancakes are only for breakfast, they make a lovely dessert too!
- With sugar and lemon (traditional)
- With honey (my younger boy’s choice)
- With honey and banana (my older boy’s choice)
- With maple syrup
- With strawberries and cream
- With strawberries, ice-cream and chocolate sauce – and cream!
- Eat pancakes flat or rolled up
- Left over mix can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days
- If the mixture is a bit thin, add more flour
- If the mixture is a bit thick, add more milk/soy
Didn’t I tell you my How to Make Pancakes recipe was easy. Give it a try and let me know how you get on.
So, there you have it, another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe.
Hope you enjoy!
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Easy Snacks | No Comments »
Jun 6th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
Bread Crumbs make super crispy toppings when baked in the oven and are good for binding homemade burgers. They are also great for schnitzel. It’s a good idea to always have a supply handy, so I turn all unwanted bread ends/crusts into bread crumbs and freeze until required.
It’s so easy – just put the bread ends/crusts into your food processor and whiz for a minute of two – instant bread crumbs! Freeze until required. I have kept bread crumbs in the freezer for a couple of months.
More cooking tips coming your way soon.
Posted in Cooking Tips | 2 Comments »
May 30th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
The next time you have roast chicken, don’t throw away the carcass – use it to make this chicken stock recipe. Chicken stock is a fantastic base for soups and with winter upon us – in Australia at least – there couldn’t be a better time to make your own chicken stock.
The preparation for this chicken stock recipe is less than ten minutes. You then just let it bubble away on the stove until it’s ready.
Chicken Stock Recipe – Ingredients
- One roast chicken carcass
- 1 Onion – cut into quarters
- 2 or 3 carrots – each cut into 2 or 3 pieces
- 2 or 3 sticks of celery – each cut into 3 or 4 pieces
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves – each cut in half
- Handful of fresh parsley – optional
- 1 or 2 dried bay leafs – optional
- 1 tomato – cut in half
- 8 or so black pepper corns – whole
- 2 – 3 litres of water – enough to cover carcass
Chicken Stock Recipe – Method
- Put all ingredients into a large pan
- Bring to the boil and simmer for around 1 hour
- Allow to cool a little then strain – throw away all but the liquid
- Store chicken stock in air-tight container/s in the fridge or freezer until required
Handy Tips
- I take any left-over skin off the carcass before making the stock – that’s where the fat is (saturated) so I prefer not to use it
- Take out any left-over stuffing from the chicken cavity – you don’t really want that in your stock
- Chicken stock will keep for 2 or 3 days in the fridge – or freeze for a month or so until required
Variations
- You can use uncooked chicken bones in place of a roast chicken carcass
- For a Veggie Stock just leave out the chicken carcass and add some extra vegetables – cabbage works really well
- For a Fish Stock use raw fish bones in place of the chicken carcass
On it’s own this Chicken Stock Recipe isn’t very exciting, but it will make scrumptious Pumpkin Soup and Veggie Soup – recipes coming your way in the coming weeks – all in Ten Minutes of course.
So there you have it, another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe. Let me know how you go with this one.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Cooking Tips | 4 Comments »
May 18th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
It will take you less than ten minutes to prepare this yummy apple crumble recipe. You can cook it straight away or put it in the fridge and cook later. It’s so easy and the best thing is you can substitute apple for whatever takes your fancy – or whatever you happen to have in your pantry.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve cooked this apple crumble recipe. The surprise for my family is guessing what fruit lies under the crumble! This recipe will serve approx 6 people.
To keep things really simple, I use a cup measure for this recipe – the cup should hold approx 250ml.
Apple Crumble Recipe – Ingredients
- One large tin (approx 800 g) cooked apples
- Approx 150 g butter (or your usual spread)
- One cup plain flour
- Quarter cup of sugar
- Half cup of oats
Apple Crumble Recipe – Method
- Empty tin of apples into an oven proof bowl or deep dish
- In a separate bowl, rub butter and flour together with fingers (messy job – suggest you put on disposable kitchen gloves)
- Add sugar and oats and mix everything together
- Put crumble mix on top of apple
- Cook in moderate oven for approx 30 minutes – it should be nice and golden coloured on top
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with ice cream, cream or custard (or all three)
- Also delicious with pureed mixed berries (use frozen – just microwave with a little sugar until mushy)
Variations
- Tin pears work very well – drain off most of the juice
- Tin peaches also good – also drained
- Tin Rhubarb – my favourite, but alas my boys aren’t keen
- Frozen mixed berries are great – you may need to add some sugar
- Combination – pears with a few mixed berries on top is delicious
- Apple with a couple of sliced bananas works well too
- Of course you can use fresh fruit if you wish (and have more time)
- If you use fresh apple or pear, peel, core and slice, then cook slowly in a little water until soft
By the way, consider this very easy apple crumble recipe if you’ve having a dinner party. Cook it in one of your nicest looking dishes and serve with all the trimmings. Your guests will think you’ve gone to so much trouble – and yet you had it prepared in less than ten minutes. I’ve yet to meet anybody who doesn’t like apple crumble – so make more than you think you’ll need, because everyone will want seconds!
Thanks for reading another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe.
Posted in Easy Desserts | 4 Comments »
