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As mentioned in Day 57 of The Challenge Rotkohl, literally red cabbage, is a stewed cabbage dish traditionally eaten in Germany and German-speaking Switzerland alongside sausages or other meat. You can get them ready made in tins, or you can make it yourself, pretty easily too. This batch came out particularly well, but the key, really, is time. I got this ready early in the day, before lunch, and stashed it in my Wonderbag slow cooker for the rest of the day until dinner, thus giving it plenty of time to stew. I also added a couple of first-time innovations which worked out scrumptiously. Ingredients: 1 half of a red cabbage, chopped 2 apples, chopped 1 c raisins 2 tsp orange peel 1/4-1/2 nutmeg, freshly grated 1 c apple cider vinegar 1 c apple juice Pepper 1) Place all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a simmer and stew covered at low temperature for at least 45 minutes (the longer the better). A slow cooker works wonders, but you can do it over the stove if need be. I love this dish! It works as a side for all sorts of meals, it is dead simple, and so so satisfying! Please try this! EDIT: I tried this again recently and made it with dried grapefruit peel instead or orange. It worked well, but there was a little more bitterness. A pinch of salt sorted that out though! Certainly an alternative to bear in mind!

As mentioned in Day 67 of The Challenge This was a pre-night shift dinner for me by my husband and went over very well with all of us, including Little One who has started making definite preferences known. It is a bit of a multi-step process, but so worth it! Warm and filling, it is the ultimate comfort food. Ingredients: 2 eggs 500 g of ziti, penne or other tubular pasta 1 head of garlic, crushed 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tins (800g) tomatoes 2 c (800g) of cottage cheese 600g mozzarella, shredded 1 c milk 1 tsp sugar 2 tsp basil 2 tsp oregano 3/4 tsp cornstarch 1/2 c red cooking wine Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat olive oil with garlic in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, allowing the garlic to infuse gently. Add tomatoes and wine and bring to a simmer. Add basil and oregano. 2) Once the sauce has thickened, add the sugar. 3) Beat eggs, and add cottage cheese and half the mozzarella to them, whisking again. 4) Cook pasta 3/4 of the way there - it still must have some bite to it as it will continue cooking in the oven! Put in a casserole dish and set aside. 5) In a saucepan, combine cornstarch and milk, stirring and heating slowly until they thicken, then remove from the heat. 6) Add the cottage cheese mixture and 1 c of tomato sauce to the milk mix. Add this resulting triple mix to the pasta and stir well to coat all of those little tubes in gooey goodness. 7) Mix remaining tomato sauce with the pasta gooey-ness, and stir in the mozzarella to melt through. 8) Bake at 180°C for 45 minutes until the top is golden (and has a few crispy bits as these are amazing!) So tasty, and almost better as leftovers. I definitely recommend this. Hubby's been promising/threatening to make this for years, and never having even heard of this until he mentioned it, I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, and (after the challenge) this will be making it into regular rotation!

As mentioned in Day 69 of The Challenge Pumpkin season is still in full swing, so what better for a light lunch than a savoury pumpkin tart? It can easily be made without the bacon to be vegetarian. Super easy, quick to assemble and very tasty, this is a must while pumpkins last! Ingredients: For the crust:(you can use a store bought crust if you want, but this is also very quick and easy, I promise! It is better if you have a half hour to let it chill before rolling it out, but it still works if you don't) 3/4 c flour 1/2 c cold butter, cut into pieces pinch of salt 1/4 c (approximate) milk 1 1/2 tsp thyme Salt and pepper to taste 1 small pumpkin or about 1/5 normal pumpkin (approx 600g), cut into chunks 1 onion, chopped 1/3 c of bacon bits 1 tsp sage 1 tsp thyme Scant 1/2 c of cream 1/4 c Gruyère or other mature cheese Salt and pepper to taste 1) To make crust, mix flour and salt. Cut in pieces of butter and mix together with fingertips until it forms a crumb like texture. Add water and mix with a fork, then knead into a soft dough. 2) Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. 3) Roll out the pastry and line a pie dish with it, and stab it with a fork. 4) Mix together pumpkin, onion, bacon and herbs. Spread in the pie plate, then pour the cream over the mixture evenly and sprinkle cheese over the top. Pepper generously. 5) Bake 25-30 minutes at 200°C until the cheese is golden. Serve warm. This was incredibly satisfying, hitting all the taste notes, and balancing beautifully. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

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 :)

Challenge Update: This was another busy night-shift week, but not too busy to have some tasty foods continuing the challenge, as well as some leftovers. We had a couple of tarts, apple cheese tart and pumpkin tart, Faussobuco (ossobuco with ham hocks instead of veal) and Baked Ziti. Baked veg, our old standby, also made an appearance with some tasty fresh veg from a local farmer, and raclette, that old Swiss classic, with my parents at the week-end.

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. It started because we made tollhouse cookies with butterscotch. I find those too sweet, with too high a flavour note. I, therefore, decided to make my own cookies, changing the sugar types - reducing the granulated sugar, both white and brown, and using pomegranate molasses instead. Regular molasses would also have the effect of deepening the note, but pomegranate molasses has an added acidity to it. I then added dried orange peel, dates and ground almonds. These came out quite moist and light. If you want them a bit more substantial, and closer to the texture of tollhouse cookies, add an extra 1/4 c of flour. Recipe Cook time: 30 minutes -- Difficulty: Easy Ingredients: 1 c butter, softened 1/2 c white sugar 1/2 c dark brown sugar 1/2 c ground almonds 1/3 c pomegranate molasses 1/4 c dried orange peel 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp cloves 2 c flour 3/4 c dates, chopped 1) Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. add almonds and pomegranate molasses and mix well. Soak orange peel in a cup of hot water. 2) Stir in wet ingredients, then gradually add dry ingredients. 3) Drain orange peel. Add date and orange peel. Drop onto greased cookie sheet by teaspoonfuls. 4) Bake at 180°C for 8-10 minutes until golden on top. Cool for a few minutes then enjoy warm! I love these and am so happy with them! I will continue to tweak and play with these a little, but these are a keeper. They are fragrant with a beautifully balanced, complex and yet delicate taste. They are moist and soft, and though sweet and overall very satisfying. The dough is less tasty to eat raw though. When baked in a slightly under-preheated oven, the bottoms caramelised a little, which quashed the orange flavour and brought out the dates. They were also tasty, but with a much less delicate and complex flavour. Swaps and substitutions: You could use fresh orange zest instead of the dried orange peel. I personally liked the chewy pieces of peel, but if you don't have any to hand, the zest will do. You could replace the pomegranate molasses with regular molasses. It will not have the same zing to it, but it would still be a balanced cookie. Try replacing the ground almond with other ground nuts to see the difference. Replace the dates with dried apricots or prunes. If you want to use prunes, alternatively, you could check out the Grapefruit and Prune Cookie recipe. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

As mentioned on Day 56 of The Challenge This is a classic comfort food. It is milky and creamy and lovely. It is never the same twice because I don't follow a recipe and there are occasional tweaks to it. It works as a vegetarian soup but also with bacon bits. It can be cheesy, or you can add celery for extra crunch. In any case, I always find it very satisfying and comforting. Ingredients: 1.5 l milk (I use whole fat, but feel free to use skimmed or semi-skimmed if necessary, it's your sad sad life) 2-3 tbsp butter Approx 800 g of corn 2 potatoes, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 sprig of fresh thyme Salt and pepper to taste 1) Melt butter in the bottom of a soup pot and sauté onions until translucent. Add potatoes and cook for a few minutes. 2) Add other ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. 3) Enjoy! Tweak this to your tastes and enjoy. Not hard to make, and so satisfying.

As mentioned in Day 64 of The Challenge I love rosehips and their season is upon us! (So many seasons, it's wonderful, I know!). They are one of those supposed super foods, especially high in vitamin c. They are the fruit of the rose, which grows if you don't deadhead and snip your roses. They also grow wild in hedgerows. I discovered them a couple of years ago and am gradually expanding what I do with rosehips. I picked these locally while on a walk this weekend which was quite exciting. Ingredients: 1/2 c rosehips Juice of 1 lemon 1 tbsp honey 1 tsp pomegranate molasses 1/4 tsp urfa biber (Turkish black chilli) 1 pinch of salt 1) Top and tail rosehips and boil them in about 1 to 1 1/2 c water with the lemon juice. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rosehips are softened. 2) Strain rosehip juice using a food mill or a strainer. 3) Add other ingredients to the juice and bring it back to a gentle simmer for 10 more minutes. Serve hot or cold to add some sour-sweet pep! This was a somewhat experimental recipe as I have made something similar-ish in the past but not quite the same. I initially made it for yesterday morning's French toast as a quick easy drizzle, but it has also since worked very nicely with roasted chestnuts.

As mentioned in Day 58 of The Challenge Did I mention that it's pumpkin season? We have bought a few (I won't say too many) again. I love pumpkin soup and we have it every year. This time though, instead of the traditional creamy spicy pumpkin soup, we went for chunky with a different range of flavours, still warming, but differently so. Ingredients: 1/2 pumpkin (or 2 small ones which is what I used), chopped 2 onions, chopped 1 head of garlic, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 2 sprigs of fresh thyme 2 sprigs of fresh oregano 1 tsp garam masala 1/2 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao 2 tsp zathar 2 tsp urfa biber (Turkish black chili) 3 c vegetable broth 1 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in the bottom of a pot and sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic and peppers, and cook for a couple of minutes before adding pumpkin and broth. Throw in herbs and simmer for 20 minutes. 2) Add spices and simmer for a few more minutes, then taste test and check vegetables for tenderness. Dead simple, warming and tasty. Perfect after a walk in cool autumn weather!

As mentioned in Day 46 of The Challenge Soup season continues! (Does it ever really stop?) A friend recently gave us quite a large bag full of sage, so needs must... This was a first try at this soup, but it will be sticking around now. Very tasty, quick to pull together and a good twist on the various other carrot-based soups we make. Many thanks to my hubby for putting it together! Ingredients: 1 kg carrots, chopped 2 onions, chopped 4 potatoes, chopped 1 l of veggie stock 1/2 c dried sage 2 tsp honey 1/2 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in a soup pot and sauté onions. Add carrots and potatoes and allow to char briefly on the bottom of the pan. 2) Add stock and sage and bring to a simmer. Add honey and cook for about a half hour. 3) Blitz til smooth, taste test and serve. This has got to be one of the simplest of soups, but it was warming and satisfying on a cold October lunch. We had it with crusty bread, local cheese and home made Green Tomato Chutney.