As mentioned in Day 21 of The Challenge Growing up, my dad made jambalaya a lot. I have never been to the South of the US, never been to New Orelans or had true creole food, but jambalaya is a comfort food for me, a childhood flavour. I have no idea how close mine approximates a true jambalaya, call it a faux jambalaya if you want, but it is tasty and filling, with few dishes and a warming flavour hitting all the right notes. It can be meaty or fishy or both, always with a bunch of vegetables. I cheated for this one and used the last of my homemade Thai red curry paste as it needed using. Ingredients: 1 spicy sausage, sliced (I used Turkish Suçuk) 2 pieces of chicken per person 2 tbsp olive oil 4 prawns per person, shelled and veined 6 medium onions, roughly chopped 2 heads of garlic, chopped 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste 2 red peppers, chopped 3 celery stalks, chopped 1 courgette, chopped a dozen okra, chopped Hot peppers - as many or as few as you like depending on taste and which ones you have. I used 5 or 6 little ones of medium heat 2 cups of rice (we used a wild rice mix for this) 1 cup red cooking wine 4 cups broth 2 stalks fresh thyme 2 stalks fresh oregano 2 tsp cayenne pepper (or sometimes I substitute tandoori powder as it has a different heat and a warmth to it) 1 tsp cumin salt and pepper to taste. 1) Brown the chicken pieces and sausage in the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Grind pepper over it while it cooks, add salt if you are going to, and add cayenne and cumin. Set aside. 2) Cook onions and garlic in the oil and sausage fats. When they change colour, add the curry paste and stir for a few minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and allow them to start to soften slightly. 3) Add the cooking wine and cook further before adding the rice. (This allows the acid in the wine to react with the okra so they don't turn slimy). Stir until the rice turns translucent and add the broth. Stir the chicken and sausage back in, allowing them to cook alongside the rice, absorbing all the flavours now bubbling away. 4) Cook approximately 20 minutes until the rice is cooked and the liquid almost entirely absorbed. Tuck the shrimp into the rice 5 minutes before you are ready to serve and cook until they are just opaque. 5) Serve it hot, on its own, with mustard or hot sauce. Jambalaya is one of those dishes which never comes out the same way twice for me. The general lines of the dish are there, but the exact flavouring and final product depend on what meat and/or seafood I am in the mood for, what veg I have at home and what the sniff test around my spice cupboard reveals which might be of interest.... Play around with it, use whatever veg or meat you want, and tweak the spicing to suit you. Have fun!

As mentioned in Day 18 of The Challenge As previously mentioned, it is plum season. We spent a couple of days making two types of plum jam and a plum and apple chutney, so we decided to use the immature chutney to marinate a couple of pork chops, which we then slow roasted over veg. Served with its veg and juices, with a cider on the side it was beautiful. Ingredients: 2 pork chops 4 carrots, sliced 3 potatoes, in chunks 2 red onions, chopped 1 apple, chopped 8 plums, chopped 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 2 tsp cooking sake 1 red chilli, chopped 4 big cabbage leaves 2 tsp black sesame seeds 1) Line a deep oven proof dish with the cabbage leaves. Add potatoes, onions and carrot to the dish, reserving 1/2 onion. Place pork chops over the top. 2) Stew plums and apples in a small amount of water. Add sake and rice wine vinegar, chilli and the remaining half onion. 3) Spoon the plum and apple over the pork. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. 4) Roast covered at 150°C for 2 hours, then uncover for the last 20 minutes. Serve with crusty bread for the juices. We were very happy with this. No tweaks! The pork was tender, the veg absorbed the flavours and juices. Extra juices are great mopped up, or save them for a risotto!

So I have this habit of taking traditional things and doing my own take, usually the same but just with more veg, and all from scratch , no tins or boxes allowed except tomatoes or tuna. This was similar. A creamy pasta sauce, but replacing some of the cream or milk with pumpkin purée, and a dash of vinegar. Super tasty, lighter than the regular version, but smooth and velvety, bursting with flavour. We spiced it differently to normal, of course, and added veg. It would have been beautiful with bacon and parmesan too, or other veg like asparagus, courgette, aubergine etc., but was still excellent without. Ingredients: 250 g pasta 2 TBSP butter 2 TBSP flour 3/4 c milk, warm 1/2 c pumpkin purée 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar 1/4 c white cooking wine 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cloves 1 tsp cayenne 3 red onions diced half a head of garlic, minced 2 peppers, 1 red 1 yellow, diced Black pepper to taste 1 TBSP olive oil 1) Cook pasta according to instructions. 2)Make a roux with the butter, flour and milk: melt butter in a saucepan. Add flour and stir it in until it forms a uniform mass. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring after each addition to avoid lumps. Add the pumpkin purée, spices, wine and balsamic adjusting quantities to taste and consistency. Stir, pepper, set aside. 3) Heat oil in a pan. Sauté veg in the olive oil. 4) Toss pasta and veg together, pour sauce over it, and serve. Optional cheese to grate over the top. Filling and tasty, velvety but with a bit of a tang to bring all the flavours out. It is an incredibly chameleon-like meal, able to shift to fit the mood, your fridge, tastes or dietary requirements. I hope you enjoy! Note: When in doubt as to how to make flat flavours pop more, add acid not salt. Vinegar, lime or lemon juice or wine depending on what it is.

Feel free to skip the shrimp, or substitute for something else, but it was a worthy addition.

Skip the bread and the recipe is gluten free.

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!

Do feel free to adjust this and the sugar to suit your tastes.) 2 tbsp of orange zest 2 egg yolks 6 egg

So this is a bit of a spin on last year's Potato and Cabbage Pie, using sweeter root vegetables and some greens. It is still quite dense but packed with flavour and super satisfying. Sweet potatoes and squash were on sale so they were the base for this pie. I like the cabbage leaves as the pie casing, steamed and then roasted with the pie. We put bacon over the top of this one, but really it would have been just as good without it. Ingredients: 6-8 cabbage leaves 4-5 sweet potatoes, chopped 2 apples, chopped 3 carrots, chopped 1/2 butternut squash, chopped 3 eggs 1/2 - 1 c cheese, grated 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp oregano 1/2 head broccoli, chopped 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp chutney (I used last year's Green Tomato Chutney) 6-8 strips of bacon Salt and pepper to taste 1) Steam the cabbage leaves until pliant. Boil the sweet potatoes and apples until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Roast the butternut and carrots with the butter at 180°C until tender, about 20 minutes to a half-hour. 2) Roughly mash the veg together, and mix in the eggs, cheese, and herbs, salt and pepper. Add broccoli and mix well. 3) Butter an ovenproof dish and line it with the cabbage leaves, reserving one for the "lid". Fill with the vegetable mix, spread chutney over the top and close it with the cabbage leaf lid. Lay the bacon strips over the top and bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes. This came out very tasty. Next time I would put the bacon on before the cabbage leaf lid though so that it can cook and melt into the veg rather than just larding the top. I might add a bit of a zingier flavour to it too, but not necessarily. It was very sweet and could have done with a dash of acid of some kind but was very tasty and filling as is. Certainly an idea worth working on though!

I know, I know. Not another Rösti recipe! We've already had two (the Non-Traditional 6 Veg Rösti from way back, and the Courgette and Apple Rösti from the autumn, made with Chanterelles from a friend's mushrooming excursion), but the combination of the red cabbage and the sweet potato in this one was too good not to share. I wasn't initially sure about the cabbage (Cabbage? In rösti?!). but it worked, and in fact, it was the tastiest part (along with the bacon and the cheese and the peppers and the sweet potato...) I initially had other plans for last night's dinner, but it was snowing harder and harder, and my original plans meant a trip down the mountain to the store. In view of the weather conditions, I decided against that. The veg we had then led me to the idea of a stir-fry. And then the image of the big cast-iron skillet came to mind, which naturally transitioned the dish's conception from stir-fry to rösti. I rooted around in the pantry and grabbed a number of bits and pieces, and that was the basis of the dish. And when is a rösti better suited for than when there is a howling snowstorm outside and a toasty fire in the fireplace? It was perfect, for the mood, the weather and to keep us all warm. Ingredients: 4 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil 1 red cabbage, sliced 4 onions, sliced 1 head garlic, sliced 1 red pepper, sliced 2 sweet potatoes, grated A handful of carrots, grated A handful of small potatoes, grated 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp sage 1 tsp sumac 1 tsp Urfa Biber 1 ball mozzarella, sliced 1/4 c bacon, diced (or more, if you want. Or none at all, although I really do hold with bacon in general) 1 tomme of fresh cheese (I used a tomme vaudoise that we had on hand), cubed 6 quail's eggs 1 spring onion, chopped Salt and Pepper to taste 1) Heat about 2 tbsp butter in a large cast-iron skillet. Fry the onions and garlic on medium heat until beginning to soften. Add the red pepper and bacon and cook for a few more minutes until the bacon bits are cooked on the outside (this is going in the oven after, so don't worry if it isn't completely cooked through yet). 2) Add the remaining vegetables and mix well. Season, add the herbs and spice and fry for about 5 more minutes. Finally, add in the cubes of cheese, and dot with the remaining butter. Crack the quail's eggs on top and arrange them neatly, and place the mozzarella round on top of the rösti. 3) Place in the oven at 180°C for about 10 minutes. Pull it out and sprinkle the spring onion over the top. Add a drizzle of olive oil if the top is looking too dry. Place back in the oven for a few more minutes, until the mozzarella is melted, the eggs are cooked, and the top of the rösti is beginning to brown but the spring onion is still crisp. I am very pleased with how this one came out. Hubby thinks it is my best rösti yet, but then I think his favourite version of many things I cook is the one on his plate at the time... The flavour combos and the deep flavour of the cabbage especially were rewarding. The only oddity really is that the cabbage turned some of the other bits, like the cheese and potato, blue. I can live with that though, especially in such a colourful dish! And I must say that quail's eggs make almost anything look fancy and dainty. It also worked re-heated for lunch today! The bacon could be skipped for a vegetarian version of this. I wouldn't suggest skipping the cheese, but you could turn it vegan if you really wanted to. Switch things up according to your tastes!

This is an adaptation of a friend's fenugreek chicken recipe. His fenugreek chicken, back when we were living in South Africa, was the first time I ever had fenugreek and the memory of it is what then pushed me, back in Switzerland, to try to get a hold of some for myself. I knew so little about ti at that point though that I wasn't even aware that there were fenugreek leaves, seeds and ground fenugreek. When the friend who eventually sourced it for me and picked it up asked me which I wanted, I had no idea, so she got me all three. I made the chicken again and then launched into my own exploration of the spice. This recipe is more or less faithful to his original recipe for the chicken but simply vegetarian, replacing the chicken with sweet potato and carrot (I do have his permission to post). The substitution worked well but obviously altered the end result. Both vegetables are quite sweet, so the emphasised the cinnamon in the recipe and the sweetness and warmth of the flavours. It also ended up a little different as I used rehydrated Kashmiri chilis instead of green chilis for the simple reason that my local grocery store didn't have any chilis available, so I used what I had on hand. This resulted in a warmer, less acidic heat. Both of these made for an excellent new dish, but I would change at least one of the vegetables and cut down on the cinnamon a little next time if I wanted something closer to the original dish but that is still vegetarian. I am sticking with my friend's units of measurement here, firstly because they are excellent, and secondly as a tribute. Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes, chopped 3 carrots, chopped 1/2 head of garlic, grated medium chunk of ginger, grated (my friend's recipe specifies 1.2 inches) 4-6 green chilis, finely diced 1 - 1 1/2 medium onions, chopped 40% tsp of turmeric 40% tsp chili powder (I used tandoori powder as my other chili powder is too hot for Little Bit) 1 1/5 tsp salt 3/5 c dried fenugreek leaves, rehydrated in enough boiling water to cover them for 30 minutes prior to use) 30-50g butter 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 1/5 - 2 bay leaves 1 1/5 tsp cumin, heaped, like Everest 1 tsp coriander, heaped, like Mauna Kea 30% tsp cinnamon (I think I accidentally did closer to 50% tsp this time. oops!) 1 tsp dried thyme, optional Drizzle of cream 1) Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Throw in onions, salt, and bay leaves and sweat until just beyond golden, stirring occasionally. Add ginger, garlic and chili. Stir for another minutes. 2) Add remaining spices and stir. Add the fenugreek leaves and some of the rehydration water. Stir. 3) Spread the onion and spice mix out over the base of the pan then place the sweet potatoes and carrots on top and stir. Add butter and thyme. Add a little more tumeric if it all looks a little pale. (the original directions were to do so if the chicken looked like a polar bear, but even under-turmericked sweet potatoes don't look very polar bear-esque...) 4) Once the sweet potato and carrot have had a chance to sauté a bit, add the rest of the water and let it reduce to only a thin coating. Cover, and stir every few minutes. 5) Once the sweet potato and carrot are tender, add black pepper until you can taste it and drizzle over the cream. 6) Serve over rice, and cover when not dishing. If the dish dries out it is nowhere near as tasty. Add more water, butter or pepper as needed. This was a very tasty dish in its own right, but quite different to the original (which I will have to make again soon). This one will stick around as a veggie alternative I think, but they are quite different dishes at the end of the day. A simple substitution this wasn't in the end, but still thoroughly worth doing. The remnants in the pan which didn't get packed away immediately quietly disappeared of their own accord, which is always a good sign...