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Day 37 of The Challenge (I lied. We cooked tonight rather than eating leftovers before leaving on our trip). We roasted the last of our Georgia candy roaster pumpkin this evening, and had 250g of chanterelles left. It was either pumpkin pasta with a mushroom sauce or risotto. We opted for the risotto, and the pumpkin pasta will have to wait (although not to long. I do so love it and it had been a little while since I pulled out my pasta maker). This was creamy and filling (and orange) and very tasty. Ingredients: 250 g of Arborio rice 1 1/2 c roasted pumpkin in chunks 3 onions, chopped 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and chopped 250 g of chanterelles 3 tbsp olive oil 1 c of milk 1 1/2 - 2 c of water, broth or reserved mushroom water (like from prepping a chanterelle tart) 1 1/2 tsp sumac 1 tbsp lime juice 2 tsp thyme 1 tsp sage 1 tsp urfa biber (Turkish black chilli pepper) salt and pepper to taste Parmesan for sprinkling 1) Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and sauté onions. When they go translucent and then begin to char a little on the bottom, add in the garlic and then keep them moving. 2) Heat the rest of the olive oil in a saucepan and add the rice. Stir until translucent then add the water/mushroom water/broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed. Add milk and stir. 3) Once garlic is soft, add the chanterelles, the thyme and the sage and lower the heat. Cook gently, allowing the mushrooms to give off their liquid. 4) As the rice cooks and absorbs the liquid, add the pumpkin and stir. Add sumac, and once the milk is absorbed, add lime juice and urfa biber. 5) When the rice has thickened and cooked, add the mushrooms and onions to the rice and mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle desired parmesan over the top. Super tasty. I love making risotto and find them relatively quick and easy once you figure them out. They are endlessly adaptable too. The flavours played off each other beautifully in this tonight. It would have worked with bacon, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it lost out by not having any.

Konjac Cherry tomato Pasta by Hibiscus Kook This recipe is gluten-free and vegan friendly Creamy Cauliflower In case you want to try making these but don't have a pasta machine, pasta tree or ravioli cutter, click

With autumn mists and fall harvest fruits and vegetables available, I've been enjoying taking advantage as much as possible of what's on offer. Planning a white lasagna, I was excited to realise that I had part of a pumpkin that needed using and some apples in the fruit bowl. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but seeing as everyone at the table (including someone who is not Hubby and therefore is less biased) had seconds, I thought it was probably worth posting. For this, I specially grilled a chicken in the air fryer (I love how easy that was) but normally I would have used leftover chicken from a roast dinner or something. Ingredients: 2 - 2 1/2 c chicken, shredded 3 onions (small) diced 2 apples, diced 2 c spinach or (2 cubes frozen spinach) 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp sage 1 tsp orange peel 1 - 2 c whey 1 tsp sumac 1/4 c butter 1 zucchini, thinly sliced along its length 1 2 inch pumpkin wedge, thinly sliced 2 1/2 c ricotta 1 1/2 c parmesan, grated Lasagna sheets 1 tomato, sliced 1) In a saucepan, melt the butter then sweat the onions. Add apple, spinach, sumac, orange peel and sage and cook until apple is beginning to soften. Add chicken and enough whey to moisten but not drown the sauce. 2) Melt remaining butter. Brush an ovenproof dish and begin layering: zucchini, chicken and apple sauce, pumpkin, pasta brushed with butter, ricotta, parmesan, repeat. End on a layer of ricotta, parmesan and then sliced tomatoes. 3) Bake at 180°C for about 45minutes until a knife goes in easily and the top is golden and molten. This was really tasty, but I made it a little too wet. I have a bit of a hard time judging the right level of moistness in a white lasagna sauce. It was just right on the second go when we reheated it though! I had thought of using apple sauce in the chicken sauce instead of the whey (which, incidentally, you can replace with stock if you don't have whey lying around), but decided not to this time. I had also considered adding some warm autumnal spicing, given that I was using pumpkin and apple, but didn't. Maybe next time.

I don't think I've made rösti since last year when my Non-Traditional 6 Veg Rösti was my first post on here when I started the blog. I don't know why I haven't made it since, as I do like. it. So many other things to make and to try out, I suppose. And a Challenge early on not to make the same thing twice that lasted 100 days. Anyway, looking at the contents of the fridge and trying to figure out what to make for dinner, the zucchinis and apples, as well as some left-over boiled potatoes from a raclette with friends, suggested this to me. It didn't come out perfectly in the first instance as I forgot to salt the zucchini first. This draws out the excess liquid and also leaves them less bitter. Not having done so, the dish was a little wet. In a hurry to get dinner on the table so as not to delay Little Bit's bedtime, I didn't give it as long as I normally would have done to crisp up. Don't make my mistake! Crisp it! The leftovers though, I heated in the air fryer and they were delightfully crispy. Aside from this minor setback in execution the first night, I loved the interplay of the different flavours - the sweetness to the apples, and the salty ham, and the chanterelles. All of it came together very nicely! Ingredients: 1 - 1 1/2 c boiled potatoes, coarsely grated 2 apples, coarsely grated 2 courgettes, coarsely grated 2 onions 4 tbsp olive oil 1 tomato, sliced, 1 c bacon bits or ham 2 tbsp butter or lard (I save bacon fat whenever I cook bacon) 2 c chanterelles, chopped 1 tsp rosemary 1 tsp thyme 1 c cheese, grated (I used Gruyère) salt and pepper to taste Optional: 1 fried egg per person 1) Heat oil in a frying pan and sauté onions until soft. Set aside. Fry bacon briefly until cooked through and beginning to brown. 2) Mix all ingredients except tomato and chanterelles. Place in a greased oven-proof dish or a cast-iron skillet. Arrange sliced tomato over the top. Dot with butter or lard. Bake at 200°C for 35-45 minutes until cooked through and beginning to brown. 3) Use the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil to sauté the chanterelles. Drain the excess liquid and arrange them over the top of the rosti. Serve, and place a fried egg on top of the portions for anyone wanting them (personally, that's the way to go!). I briefly placed the chanterelles on top of the rösti and popped it back in the oven, but I am not sure this added anything to the dish, so I skipped that step above. It could easily be made vegetarian or vegan by skipping the ham (tasty but non-essential) and swapping the lard for butter. I do enjoy a traditional rösti, but all too often I find it too stodgy and heavy, and just too greasy. Also, depending on where you have it, it is almost nothing but potato. I love playing around with this dish as there is so much that can be done with the basic idea, carrying the essence of the dish forward but reducing the stodge and the grease, adding different flavour notes and different colours - not to mention nutritional value! It is an endlessly adaptable dish if you allow yourself to be unbound from strict tradition...

Rösti is a traditional Swiss-German food, so traditional in fact that the border between the French and German speaking cantons in Switzerland is referred to as the Rösti border. It is a dish of potatoes, parboiled then fried or baked, with cheese and sometimes onion. It is often served with ham and a fried egg on top, referred to the skier's plate, and comes with a pickle or two and maybe a slice of tomato. I have grown up with rösti. It is filling, warming on a ski-day, tasty, fulfilling... Or almost. It always leaves me not quite satisfied. The stodge of pure carbs and fat leaves me looking for the veg and feeling heavy, and it often is very greasy. This dissatisfaction led me to tinker a bit with tradition, and this, or variants of this, is the result. It is never quite the same twice as it depends what I have on hand (in this case fresh beetroots from a local farmer, some of the tastiest and most flavourful I've ever had). Traditional with a twist. Ingredients: 2 large potatoes 1 large beetroot 2 courgettes (or zucchini depending on where you're from) 3 medium carrots 1 large(ish) onion 2 handfuls of spinach 2 tomatoes 100g mature cheese (given where I live this tends to be L'Etivaz or Gruyère) Bacon 1 egg per person Thyme 1) Parboil your potatoes and beetroot. You want them to be almost cooked through, but not so soft that they turn to mush in the oven. Preheat oven to 210°C. 2) Grate your potatoes, beetroot, carrots, courgettes, and cheese. Cube your bacon and slice your onion into rings. Cube one tomato, slice the other one into rings. 3) Grease an oven-proof dish with butter of lard - your choice. If you really must, then use olive oil, but don't eliminate the fat entirely, it is necessary to some extent. 4) Mix together all of the ingredients except the sliced tomato and a few slices of onion, and a handful of cheese. Place mix in the dish, and fluff is with a spoon. Sprinkle the extra cheese over the top and place the tomato and onion rings on the surface. If your grated mixture was a little dry, dot the top with a small amount of butter. 5) Bake uncovered for about 40-45 minutes until the cheese is melted and there is some crisping around the edges. Fry an egg, leaving the egg yolk runny and place one on top of each portion (season your fried egg however you wish. Red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, thyme, It is up to you). Serve hot with a salad. Results? I find this take on the traditional dish infinitely more satisfying. Minimal grease, and reduced carbs. There is veg in every bite and while retaining its traditional essence, it is lighter and more satisfying while still being filling and hitting the rösti spot. It remains a dish for a cool day, but being lighter and more veg leaning rather than stodgy, you can get away with it in the summer. I have started this blog off with this recipe at the request of a friend (Swisscleo.wixsite.com) :)

I am aware that nuts in brownies or blondies aren't everyone's thing, though, so feel free to just skip

(I blanch mine and keep them in the freezer until I'm ready to use them) Book pairing: With cold dark They knew they were going North, and that there was a likelihood of encountering freezing temperatures

also dawned on my while making them that if I can get the barley flour fine enough, barley, with less gluten than regular flour, is a great replacement as in shortbread everything is done to prevent gluten chain

Barley has a lower gluten content and is a bit sweeter, so I thought it might help make the crackers (Kneading forms gluten strands which would make the crackers chewy, not crumbly).

, leaving me free to experiment. Here is the result.