As mentioned in Day 3 & 4 of The Challenge I love curry. It is one of my favourite foods. Some have heat, others don't. Some curries are vegetarian while others are unashamedly carnivorous. The colours, the smells and the flavours are all enticing. A year in Nepal gave me a good spice tolerance and an appreciation of the different flavours. I love that curry comes in so many different forms, from different places across the globe with different spices and blends. I have a spice cupboard that is too big for my own good. Not everything in it is labelled, others have labels like "soup spice", a meaningless name given to a blend by a spice vendor somewhere. I cook mostly by taste and smell, and the imagined combinations of things matched mentally before they are added. Most of my curries are probably not recognisable as any specific thing to anyone native to anywhere that actually makes curry, and I would love to have all the know-how about using spices, and which to add when in order to layer flavours that I might, were I from one of the cultures, but instead I play and experiment. And usually, things turn out well. This was one of those. I wanted to test the properties of fenugreek seeds a bit more, we had a pumpkin that needed using, and I thought it might go well with the sweeter spices that I wanted to use. This curry does not pretend to be authentic anything, or from anywhere except my kitchen, but it's good. Ingredients: 2 tsp mustard seeds 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 tsp fenugreek seeds 2 tbsp peanut oil a handful of dried orange peel 1/4 - 1/2 pumpkin (small), cubed 1 red onion and 1 white, diced 1 head of garlic, sliced 1 large knob of ginger, peeled and diced 2 long red chillis, sliced 1 tbsp red curry paste 1 courgette 2 carrots 1 red pepper 1/4 - 1/2 white summer squash 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp urfa biber (Turkish pepper) 1/4 tsp cloves 2 tsp cumin 3 c water 2 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao Juice of 1/4 lemon 1) Heat oil in a pot. Add seeds and orange peel. Cook until the spices are fragrant and the mustard seeds start to pop. I tried a fenugreek seed at this point and it was sweet and perfumed, only the slightest hint of bitterness. 2) Add onions, garlic and ginger to the spices and cook until translucent, then add the pumpkin. Turn the heat down and, adding 2 cups of water, simmer gently for about 20-30 minutes. 3) Add other ingredients except for lemon juice and simmer further until vegetables are tender. 4) Add lemon juice 5 minutes before dishing. Serve over rice and eat hot. This turned out beautifully. It was warming and had some heat to it but without blowing your head off. I thought the spices played off each other particularly nicely. The cocoa spice was a late addition to add a deeper note that was lacking, and then the lemon juice came in to brighten it up. I had intended to toast the seeds instead of frying them, but was distracted by Little Bit's dinner, and had intended to add red lentils (initially I had planned on dal for dinner before things evolved), but forgot those too until doing clean up at the end. Overall it was very satisfying and I would definitely make it again. It did have a bit of a dry tongue after effect though. I am wondering if that was the fenugreek. My husband's guess was the cumin, but that was minimally dosed. I've never had that effect before despite using a lot of cumin all the time. Something to investigate further.

As mentioned in Day 2 of The Challenge A friend got me 1 kg of Fenugreek seeds recently. The seeds have a beautiful, sweet, tangy smell to them. A little midnight research during a recent night shift suggested that used as they are they have a bitter flavour, but if toasted they become richer and sweeter. Apparently they have been used medicinally for centuries as an anti-inflammatory and pro-lactation ingredient. I'd never used it and was curious, so I made a couple of curries with it recently, but with so many different flavours, it is hard to identify a single note in order to figure out what it-s like and how it interacts with other flavours. This was therefore an experimental dish with fewer flavours to try and tease out the fenugreek's properties and taste. I opted for porridge as it is good base coat that I hoped would welcome and show up any variations of the fenugreek. Based on the description I thought it might match well with something citrusy and with other "sweet" spices - orange peel, cinnamon and cloves, matched with yellow raisins. Ingredients: 1 cup oats 2 cup milk 2 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cloves 2 tsp of orange peel, dried a handful of yellow raisins 1) Put oats, milk and raisins in a saucepan and heat slowly, stirring occasionally. As porridge thickens, add cloves and cinnamon. 2) Put fenugreek seeds and orange peel in a dry pan and toast gently. 3) Add fenugreek seeds and orange peel to the porridge, and serve into two bowls. For an experiment, this came out well but it does need some tweaking. It was still a bit bitter and needed a bit of sweetness to bring out the flavours. We added a shake of a cocoa spice blend my sister brought me back from Hawaii (cocoa, cardamom, cane sugar etc.). It helped but wasn't enough. Next time I would try it with some dates, honey, or a tsp of brown sugar per bowl. I might also toast the seeds a bit further. The porridge wasn't as creamy as I would have liked either as I ran out of milk and used some water instead. The flavours did come together very nicely aside from the bitterness. the orange, raisins and spices payed off each other beautifully. I usually have my morning porridge a lot simpler, but I would definitely try this again, and I feel that the experiment to feel out the properties of fenugreek was a definite success. Other ideas are forming and bubbling up to test this new spice further... Watch this space for the next, and do chip in if you have ideas. EDIT: We tried this again, but with a couple of changes and this time, I think it is a keeper! Instead of dry roasting the spices, I fried the fenugreek seeds and orange peel in about 2tsp of butter for a few minutes, then added the cinnamon and cloves and about 8 dates, quartered. I let those all cook together for a further 5-7 minutes and then added them to the porridge and it was delectable. My husband added fresh figs to his too. I did not find that it needed further sweetening but if you did, then I think honey would be your best bet. creamy and sweet with warm spices, this was a tasty cold morning treat, and only took a little more effort than my regular porridge.

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.

Ottolenghi's recipe was a lentil coconut curry with paneer stuffed aubergines.

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.

Ingredients: For the soufflé: 3/4 c mulligatawny soup (see recipe here) 2 tsp butter for the roux, 1

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...

Konjac Cherry tomato Pasta by Hibiscus Kook This recipe is gluten-free and vegan friendly Creamy Cauliflower

As mentioned in Day 65 of The Challenge This is my first original cookie recipe, all my own rather than just tweaking of an original. Recipe Cook time: 30 minutes -- Difficulty: Easy Ingredients: 1 c butter, softened 1/2 c white sugar If you want to use prunes, alternatively, you could check out the Grapefruit and Prune Cookie recipe.

I have started this blog off with this recipe at the request of a friend (Swisscleo.wixsite.com) :)