The perfect Sunday morning brunch, crispy decadent and redolent with sage.


Butternut Squash Latkes with Sage Cream
1/2 butternut squash peeled and grated
4 pring onions chopped
1/4 cup flour


2 large organic eggs, lightly beaten
Large handful of fresh purple sage some whole and some chopped
salt and pepper
6 Tablespoon sour cream





Method
Preheat oven to 425



Combine the butternut squash, spring onions, flour, eggs, 4 chopped sage leaves and the seasoning. Use your hands to form the mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball. Brush a baking tray with olive oil and squash the balls with a spatula. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn over and brown the other side for five minutes.





Serve with sour cream and sage dip. Combine the sour cream and the remaining finely chopped sage, season and serve over the pumpkin latkes

CUMIN BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO

Butternut squash is for me the quintessential Autumn food, it represents hearty warmth around a warm fire. Pumpkins symbolize halloween but I am British and they mean little to me and although I accept that pumpkins look appetising when raw and their colour is amazing, they actually do not taste all that good. I have been dreaming of a butternut squash risotto for weeks and eventually I came across my first squash of the Winter.

Ingredients
1 kilo of butternut squash
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 shallots, finely minced
3 cups Arborio rice
Fresh vegetable stock
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dill, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Watkins mushroom ketchup
1 teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground
4 teaspoons pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted

Method
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Peel and dice the butternut squash into largish cubes toss the squash squash in in a bowl with the salt, a tablespoon of olive oil, cumin powder and paprika.Roast for 20 minutes, until slightly browned and softened.

In a mortar and pestle, grind the saffron threads pour over about 1/4 cup of warm water

In a deep saucepan, sauté the minced garlic cloves in the remaining oil until golden. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and the shallots and saute until a pale golden. Add the rice and coat the rice with the butter gently. Add 1 cup of warm stock the mushroom ketchup and the saffron liquid. Stir constantly and add more stock when necessary.


When rice is almost cooked, add the butternut squash, and the rest of the butter. Let it rest for about five minutes. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds and dill over to serve, serve the parmesan seperately.

SAVOURY PUMPKIN AND CAREMALISED ONION MUFFINS

When I first saw this recipe, it was for vegans, but the muffins themselves looked so wonderful I had to adapt the

Scrummy Savoury muffins were my first thought when I saw this picture, but as it was vegan and for once I was not cooking for me I adapted it for the carnivores in my family.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups diced red onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2/3 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 tablespoons shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup roasted pumpkin puree
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup golden syrup

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Method
Cook the diced onion with the margarine, thyme and a pinch of salt in a pan over medium high heat until caramelized. To get good color stir often and cook for at least 15 minutes. Set aside to cool in a medium bowl. Mix together the milk and vinegar and set aside while the onions cool.
-Spray another skillet with oil and add the pepitas (pumpkin seeds). Carefully toast the pepitas over medium heat until a few begin to make popping sounds and color a light golden brown. Remove and toss with a pinch of salt.

In a large bowl, stir together the two flours, baking powder, baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.Add the soy milk mixture, the pumpkin, the oil and the golden syrup to the caramelized onions. Stir until combined. Dump the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Spray a muffin pan with oil and spoon the batter in, filling each compartment 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle the toasted pepitas on top. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and then remove from the muffin pan and cool the rest of the way on a baking rack.

Rustic Wild Mushroom , Caramalised Onion Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese Tart

Rustic Wild Mushroom , Caramalised Onion Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese Tart
Originally uploaded by Girl Interrupted Eating

Yesterday I was researching wild mushroom recipes for my website
false morels and got totally diverted but fortunately I found this recipe because I also have a page devoted to wild mushroom recipes


Rustic Wild Mushroom Caramalised Onion, Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese Tart

For the pastry
100g of Plain Flour
50g of Butter
10ml of Water

Crumb the butter into the flour until you get a breadcrumb consistency. Add the water slowly to form a a dough and then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for half an hour.
Meanwhile prepare the filling

3 large onions
1tablespoon of butter
4 large handfuls of wild mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
4 sticks of fresh thyme
10 slices of roasted butternut squash ( Thickly slice a roast at 200 deg for 20 minutes)

Finely slice the onions and saute with the butter very slawoly until they caramelise and sweeten.
In a seperate pan cook the mushrooms with a little olive and garlic , once they have softened and any water is reduced add the butternut squash and thyme. Mix the onion and mushroom mixture together gently.

Roll out the pasty into a circle to a couple of millimeters thick. Place the filling in the centre of the circle and gather the pastry around. Scatter with grumbled goats cheese and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180deg for approx 25 minutes

The meal was quick and tasty and certainly made very good use of my morels. However next tiem I would chargrill soem red peppers and use it instead of the goats cheese.

Chilli Pumpkin Cranberry Rissotto

Ingredients

3 lb sugar pumpkin,
2 tablespoons olive oil

1red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh ginger finely chopped

4 hot red chilies, seeded and thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1/3 cup dry white wine

5 cups vegetable broth, kept warm on the stove top

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoonfreshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

juice of one lime

1 teaspoon agave

For the pumpkin seeds

2 teaspoons paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/8 teaspoon salt

To prepare the pumpkin and seeds: Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and the stringy bits with a tablespoon. Reserve the seeds and place them in a colander to clean.Lightly oil a baking sheet and place the pumpkin face down on sheet.Bake for about 35 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork, but not completely mushy. Once cooled, peel off the skin and chop pumpkin into bite sized pieces.

In the meantime, wash the pumpkin seeds and dry completely with a kitchen towel. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with a little olive oil, toss to coat. You can toast them in the oven whilethe pumpkin bakes, it usually takes about 15 minutes. Toss once or twice. Remove from oven and place in a bowl to cool. Once cooled,sprinkle with the spices to coat.

For the Risotto

Preheat a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies in the oil for about 7 minutes, stirring often so you don't burn it. Add the risotto and stir to coat with oil. Add wine to deglaze the pot, then add first cup of vegetable broth.Use a wooden spoon to stir until most of the water is absorbed.

Continue adding veggie broth then stirring a few more times, until only a cup of broth is left. When you're at the last cup, add thepumpkin and cranberries and repeat stirring. When most of the liquidhas absorbed, add salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and lime juice. Stir incoconut milk. Cook for about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.Taste and adjust salt. At this point you can also add a teaspoon of agave to bring out the sweetness of the cranberries and pumpkin.

Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving, to let the flavors"marry." Scoop into bowls and garnish with pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin, Red Lentil and Medjool Date Soup

pumpkin soup
Originally uploaded by denkschema

This is a delightful warming sweet thick soup to enjoy on a chilly day. The dates give it a nice subtle sweetness and the pomegranite garnish enhance the soup.

Ingredients

100 grams red lentils
500 grams pumpkin, de-seeded and cubed
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
A handul of fresh thyme A handful of fresh tarragon leaves
1 large red onion, chopped
1 litre water
1 vegetable stock cube
Large pinch of chilli flakespinch of cayenne pepper
10 medjool dates chopped
splash lemon juice

To garnish Pomegranite seeds, chilli oil and fresh coriander

Method

Saute the chopped onions in the olove oil until they are translucent, add the thyme and tarragon, the pumpkin and the red lentils. Add the stock, chilli flakes and water and simmer gently until all the vegetables are cooked. Add the tomatoes and the dates and puree the mixture until smooth.
Add a splash of lemon juice and season to taste with a pinch of salt and cayenne.
Garnish with coriander leaves, chilli oil and pomegranite seeds.

Roast Pumpkin Salad

Since moving to london from Spain (in the worst winter for twemnty odd years) I have been living on roast vegetables. I am virtually a vegetarian and tend not to eat much meat. However I miss my salads as well, so this roast pumpkin salad ticked all the boxes. A perfect lunch when served with wholemeal bread.

Ingredients
Large chunk of pumpkin peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 large red onion quartered2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

10 Ounces of cooked french beans

1/3 cup walnuts

1 cup plain Greek yoghurt ( I used a nouhgt percent fat yoghurt)

2 tablespoons red balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, very very finely chopped

2 samll heads of baby gem, torn into bite-size pieces

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

On a large baking sheet, toss together the pumpkin, onion, and oil, and then season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender but not mushy. Add green beans and walnuts and toss well. Roast for three minutes To make the dressing whisk together yoghurt, vinegar, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Top the lettuce with roasted vegetable mixture and drizzle the dressing over the top.