My parents' neighbour gave me a massive basket of freshly picked chanterelles, and sweet potatoes were on sale again, so this naturally came out of it. The flavouring was a little non-traditional but felt appropriate to the encroaching autumn, and it was deliciously warm and filling after a long day out and about with friends. Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil 3 c arborio rice 7 c whey (approx) 1 tsp rosemary 3-4 sweet potatoes, chopped 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp thyme 2 - 2 1/2 tsp Urfa Biber 2 c milk 1-2 c cheese, grated 3 tbsp butter Salt and pepper to taste 3c chanterelles 2-3 tbsp butter 1) Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add rice and rosemary and sauté until the rice is translucent. Add whey 2 c at a time and sweet potato pieces, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring regularly, until the liquid is absorbed. Stir in spices. Reduce heat and cover. 2) Sauté chanterelles in butter, and add them and their liquid to the risotto, stirring to incorporate thoroughly. Stir in cheese and enough milk to achieve desired thickness and consistency. Add butter just before plating. Some of the flavouring was admittedly because I used a little too much whey in my rush to get it cooking before running off to bathe Little One. I then discovered that it was too acidic and a little flat and so added a bit of this and a bit of that to compensate. It also ended up ready long before Little One, overtired after a long day, actually consented to go down, so I added milk to keep it moist. Flavours ended up all over the place, and initially, I wasn't sure about it, especially when the feedback I got about it was "interesting" and "different", but then pulling out leftovers a few days later, I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the flavour combinations. Some of the leftovers we turned into arancini balls, using them to try out my new airfryer. I made balls of the leftover rice and rolled them in cheese the first night. That got a little messy, so the second time around, I rolled them in breadcrumbs instead, mixing the cheese into the risotto to thicken it a little in the hopes of getting it to hold its shape better. The first batch I stuffed with some of my Fromage blanc too. These were really tasty and I was very pleased with them for a first attempt at arancini, but they were phenomenally messy. I might need to start with a stiffer, less creamy risotto next time.

:) ), they can suit almost any taste: vegetarian or carnivorous, with cheese or spinach or mushrooms

This is one of those recipes that wasn't planned beyond "We need food. What's in the fridge?" It developed based on the ingredients on hand - homemade pasta, cauliflower, lemon and yoghurt. We tried a couple of variants - without the bacon, then with and finally with cured egg yolk grated over the top. It was tasty in all its iterations and so worth sharing. My favourite, though, was the final one in which we added a little crumbled bacon and the cured egg yolk, which tasted like a lighter carbonara. It made about 3 portions. Ingredients: Pasta 1 - 1 1/2 c plain yoghurt Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 1 tsp sumac 1/2 cauliflower head, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil + 1 more for sauce 1/2 - 1 head garlic, crushed *5 rashers of bacon *Cured egg yolk to top salt and pepper to taste * Optional 1) Cook pasta until al dente, reserving a half cup of pasta water. In a large pan, heat the oil. Add the cauliflower and fry until beginning to brown and soften. 2) In a large bowl, mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and zest. sumac and salt and pepper. Add the cauliflower and stir. If using, crispy fry the rashers of bacon. 3) Toss the sauce with the pasta, stirring in the pasta water bit by bit. If using, crumble the bacon and grate the cured egg yolk over the top. Salt and pepper to taste. This was a big hit with all of us (Little Bit needed his separated into different components, but then, he is a toddler...). I loved the simplicity and lightness of this dish. The bacon and egg yolk of course added some richness, but without making the meal too heavy. The lemon and yoghurt's acidity also helped to keep it fresh and light, while the cauliflower pieces helped add a little depth and bite. All in all, a meal that I am quite pleased with.

My second foray into using watermelon rind as an ingredient went well. I really enjoyed trying Watermelon Rind Chutney, so decided to see how it would work as a jam. The rind does have a mild flavour, but a little bit of spicing and it worked out nicely. As with the chutney I did have to partially blitz the jam as the chunks of rind did not disintegrate at all with the cooking. The watermelon rind also appears not to have any pectin so I added some home-made apple pectin to help it firm up. All in all it worked out very nicely and I am very happy with it. Ingredients: Rind of 1 medium watermelon, diced 1 1/2 c sugar 2 c apple pectin 1/2 tsp cloves 1) Place the watermelon rind pieces in a pot and cover with water. Place over medium-low heat and simmer for about an hour until the pieces of watermelon rind are tender. 2) Add other ingredients and stir. Using a hand blender, partially blitz the jam mixture to desired consistency. Taste test and cook down until thick. 3) Boil clean jars and lids for at least 15 minutes. Fill with jam while the jam is still bubbling, wipe the neck of the jar clean and seal. Place upside down to cool, sealing in the process. I am very happy with this jam, tried out on fresh home made English Muffins. The cloves added a much needed depth of flavour to the jam, and the flavour of the watermelon rind itself came through nicely. So happy to have more jam for my cupboard!

It was rainy and cold and after nap time I was reading Little Bit a classic from my childhood, Happy Winter by Karen Gundersheimer. In it is a recipe for a fudge cake that the little girls in the story make with their Mama. My first idea was to make that cake with little Bit and then go stomp in puddles while it baked, coming in to hot cake. It needed to bake too long for our available time slot though, so I considered brownies instead, and it occurred to me that we had pear and ginger on hand to put in them. I like pear brownies, but the pear flavour doesn't shine as much as I'd like, so I decided on blondies instead. These were beauteous and gooey and gingery. They are definitely going to be sticking around (and very sticky they were too!) Ingredients: 1/2 c butter, melted 1 c brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp baking soda 1/2 c walnuts, chopped 1 c flour 1 pear, diced 1 finger of ginger, diced 1/4 - 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c whey/milk 1) Place the diced ginger in a saucepan with enough water to drown them by a couple of centimetres and add sugar. simmer gently, reducing the liquid. As it reduces, add a splash or two of milk or whey, allowing it to caramelise with the sugar. Stir regularly! 2) In a large bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter together. Beat in egg and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix well. 3) Stir in the pear and walnuts. Add enough milk or whey to make the batter thick but pourable. Stir in the ginger with its caramel syrup. 4) Bake in a prepared baking tin at 175°C for 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. These were beautiful! They were sticky with a layer of gooey caramel on the bottom. The ginger and pear came through very nicely. I might reduce the sugar a bit next time, using some of the sugar that would go in the batter to candy the ginger, and I would use a few more nuts, but otherwise, am I delighted with these! The timing of the baking was perfect too! We came in wet and muddy from stomping in puddles, and the blondies were ready for us to eat by the fire once we were dried off. Maybe a little richer than I needed, but tasty and moreish... and healthy because of the pear, ginger and nuts, right?

As mentioned in Day 72 of The Challenge Guest starring my dad! This was a twist on a classic cheese tart, and the first time we had tried this variant before. A simple cheese tart is a big favourite in our family, easily tweaked to include spinach, onion, tomato, ham or broccoli, for example. This time we included sliced apples and it was scrumptious! Maybe a little further tweaking to perfect it, but certainly good enough to share! Ingredients: Shell for 1 pie crust (For crust recipe see here) 400g of L'Etivaz or Gruyère (or a similarly mature cheese), grated 400 ml milk 4 heaped tbsp of flour 4 eggs 1/4 nutmeg, grated 2 1/2 apples, sliced 4-5 rashers of bacon, fried and crumbled Pepper to taste 1) Line a pie plate with crust. Arrange apple slices over it in a single layer, then sprinkle over the grated cheese. 2) Beat eggs. Add flour and whisk together, then add milk, mixing well. Grate in nutmeg and stir. 3) Pour egg mix evenly over the cheese and apples. Grind pepper over the top and sprinkle over the crumbled bacon. 4) Bake at 200°C for 35-40 minutes until golden brown on top and the tart has risen. So very tasty, and it paired well with chunky veggie soup and a glass (or two) of wine for dinner. The tart seemed unable to decide fully whether it was dinner or dessert, but turned out to be the perfect middle ground. Next time though we thought of swapping out the bacon for prosciutto as it has a more delicate flavour. We also would like to try standing up the apple slices in the cheese to allow the skins to caramelise. EDIT: We made this again, standing up the apple slices in the cheese and it worked very nicely :)

Traditionally for New Year's Eve in my family we have a chocolate fondue. This being the case, I was looking for something light to make for lunch before an afternoon of sweet rich chocolatiness. I had also recently read a new trick for firming up the egg whites which I wanted to try and had some broccoli on hand and nine (yes, 9) egg whites left over from making leckerli and eggnog pudding...So I made broccoli soufflés, which came out airy and light and delicate, and were the perfect precursor to the New Year's chocolate fondue. Ingredients (makes 7 individual soufflés): A head to a head an a half of broccoli, chopped 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp flour 1 c milk 1 c grated parmesan 1 tsp sumac ( or more) salt and pepper to taste 9 egg whites 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tbsp white wine (optional) 1) Steam the broccoli until tender (not mushy. You want it to blitz well but still retain its flavour). Blitz until smooth, adding a little of the water from steaming if it needs some extra liquid. 2) Make a roux. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Stir constantly, not allowing any browning and gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. 3) Mix in the blitzed broccoli and 2 tbsp of parmesan. Pepper generously. If the batter is too thick, add a splash of white wine (optional) or milk. 4) Butter individual soufflé dishes - well! the soufflés won't rise as well if they stick to the sides of the pan. Mix sumac and pepper with the remaining parmesan and then sprinkle the insides of the dishes with the parmesan, tapping out the excess (you can do one big dish instead). Preheat the oven to 220°C and boil the kettle. 5) In a large bowl, beat the egg whites to STIFF peaks with a pinch of salt and the lemon juice (my new trick for making them rise better). 6) Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the broccoli mix then gently fold this into the remaining egg whites, and sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the tops. 7) Spoon into the soufflé dishes and place these on a baking tray. Pour the boiling water from the kettle into the tray to come about half way up the sides of the soufflé dishes and place in the hot oven. 8 ) Bake for 20 minutes without opening the door of the oven. This takes trust, so do something else in the mean time. After this, take a peek. If they still look too jiggly, lower the temperature and leave for another 5 minutes. If they are set but need to brown, increase the temperature for 2 minutes and then remove. 9) Serve immediately before they fall. These came out beautifully! I was very happy with them. I had been a little worried as our fridge decided to freeze about half the whites. I melted these over the hot water from steaming the broccoli and kept my fingers crossed. I had not tried this flavour combination before but was very pleased with it and will certainly do it again! Good baby food too - Little Bit loved his (the one in the little red dish)! My sister did mention that it made for an odd breakfast though (at 1 pm), so maybe don't plan it too early in the day ;). Note: Toying with how to make this recipe keto, it occurred to me that it might be possible either to skip the roux altogether or to use almond flour instead. I have not tested this theory yet, but I would like to do so. If you test it, do let me know how things go!

I am not vegetarian, gluten-free or vegan (a glance at my other recipes should confirm that for anyone I did use some sausage in this but it can easily be skipped to make the recipe vegetarian or vegan.

This was Hubby's birthday cake. It is an altered and adjusted version of the dark chocolate cake I grew up with, and it came out wonderfully. I was experimenting with making candied orange peel, so the peels themselves and the syrup from making them were used. Two additional oranges were slaughtered in the making of this cake, both semi-blood oranges. This is also one of the most elaborate cake decorations I've tried, and I was quite pleased with it. Ingredients: For the cake: 1/2 c butter 1/2 + 2 tbsp sunflower seed oil 6 tbsp cacao powder 1 1/4- 1 1/2 c orange juice 2 c flour 1 tsp baking soda 2 c sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 c sour milk (milk + 1 tsp vinegar) 2 eggs 2 tsp dried orange peel For the frosting: 1/3 c soft butter 1/3 c cream cheese 1/4 c powdered sugar 1/2 c (or more) cacao powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp Aloha Chilli Spiced Cacao 1/2 c orange syrup (or orange juice and increase the amount of powdered sugar to taste) 1/4 c milk 1 Tbsp orange zest Slices of candied orange peel (optional) 1) Melt butter in a small saucepan with oil, cacao and orange juice. 2) Mix dry ingredients, then gradually add milk, vanilla and eggs. Stir in the chocolate mix. 3) Prepare two cake pans and pour the batter into them. Bake 25-30 minutes at 165°C. 4) Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in the other ingredients, taste testing regularly and adjusting accordingly. If necessary, add a little more orange juice, or some milk for creaminess. Adjust spicing to taste too! 5) Allow both halves of the cake to cool thoroughly before frosting. Sprinkle with orange zest and candied orange slices. Optionally, boil a few orange slices in a syrup until the water cooks off and they begin to caramelise, and arrange on top or the cake. Rich and sweet, both the chocolate and orange came through. This cake was very tasty, and I am glad I already had started on the candied orange peel as the syrup really added to the frosting, and the candied pieces themselves really added to the cake. It was Little Bit's first time trying chocolate cake, and he was a bit disappointed originally that I was offering him this instead of a rice cake (the only other cake he's ever had). He was quickly converted though! Happy Birthday Hubby!

I picked up fresh Burrata (such a delight!) and then wasn't sure how best to use it. We had lots of plums on hand, so I ended up making a spicy plum sauce, served on toast with the burrata split open over the top. To complete the lunch, we had it with sautéed mushrooms and scrambled eggs. This was quick, easy and delightful after a morning at the zoo with Little Bit (he was most excited to see the goats and the excavator. It takes all sorts I suppose!) Ingredients: 4 slices of bread, toasted, (I used tresse) 1 pink onion, chopped 1 tbsp vegetable oil 5 plums, pitted and chopped 1 small red chilli, chopped 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp almond extract 1 tbsp ground almonds 1 tsp cinnamon 1 ball burrata 1) In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium flame. Add the onions and chilli and sauté until tender. Add the remaining ingredients except for the burrata and the toast. Cook, stirring regularly until the plums are beginning to fall apart. 2) Serve the toast on two plates, dividing the sauce and the burrata between them and allowing the cheese to ooze. The creamy burrata balanced the spicy and sweet plum sauce and the eggs gave everything a relatively neutral counterbalance. The toast provided some bite to oppose the softness of the plums and the almost custard consistency of the burrata. Overall, I was quite happy with this. I would maybe just tone down the spice a little next time. I loved it but it was a little much for Little Bit, who was perfectly happy with eggs and mushrooms instead.