Chocolate banana bread

I swear my best recipes come about from necessity or leftovers, and this banana bread (cake, really) is my way of using up over-ripe bananas! I'm apparently unusual these days in liking bananas when they're ripe and sweet, but these ones were too black and spotty even for me, but they go great in this cake.

• 100g butter, softened or melted
• 120g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 200g self raising flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 large very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
• 50g raisins
• 50 ml water (or ginger wine)
• 50g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks or chocolate chips

1. Heat the raisins in a covered pan with either water or ginger wine until not quite boiling. Take off the heat and leave for an hour to sit and plump up.
2. When soaked, strain the raisins and coat them in flour so they don't sink to the bottom - I always forget this part!
3. Preheat the oven to 180C.
4. Whisk the butter and sugar together, then slowly add the eggs.
5. Stir in the flour and ginger til well mixed, then add the banana, chocolate and raisins.
6. Pour into a loaf tin and bake for about an hour, while the house fills with a gorgeous banana baking scent!
7. Use a skewer or toothpick to see if it's done - when inserted it should come out clean.
8. Leave to cool, if you can resist.

Variations

Nuts are a good addition or alternative to chocolate, I like chopped walnuts particularly.

This recipe also makes great muffins - just pour the mixture into muffin cases and cook for about 30 minutes.

Autumn Vegetable Soup

I'm much more of a winter foodie than summer, and these fresh bright autumn days make me yearn for soup for lunch! We're also getting the first of the winter vegetables like leeks, so I was going to make a leek and potato soup but I just kept throwing things in!

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large leeks, sliced and thoroughly washed
• 200 g small waxy potatoes, quartered
• 6 carrots, cut into smallish chunks
• 1 tin of white beans
• 500 ml good vegetable stock
• Handful of frozen peas
• 2 tsp dill

1. Splosh oil and a knob of butter in a large pan and gently fry the onion for a minute or two.
2. Add the leeks and sweat them on a medium heat til they've cooked down a little and intensified their flavour. Don't let them burn, burnt leeks taste nasty.
3. Add the potatoes and carrots and cover with the vegetable stock. Add more water if the vegetables aren't quite covered.
4. Cook for about 15-20 until the potatoes are done.
5. Add the beans, peas and dill, and cook for another 5 mins.
6. At the end I give it a brief whizz with a hand blender - enough to break up a few of the vegetables but leaving most of them chunky.
7. Check for seasoning and consistency. I like a thick chunky soup but add more water if it's too thick.
8. Serve in a bowl with a dollop of plain yoghurt.

Plum Frangipane Puff Pastry Tart

This was an experiment that worked very well, and I'd definitely make again. Almonds and plums go together brilliantly, and the soft frangipane and the crisp pastry are deliciously moreish!

I prefer the large round black plums, but use any kind of plum you can find this time of year. This recipe would also work with apples, apricots, peaches or anything similar.

Using pre-rolled puff pastry saves so much time, but use a block (more economical) or, if truly adventurous, make your own. You can either make one very large tart, or individual sized small ones. I tend to cut a pre-rolled sheet in half, so each half serves four. I can then save the other for gorging on at breakfast!

• 1 pack pre-rolled puff pastry sheet (or equivalent)
• 3 large black plums
• 1 tbsp apricot or plum jam, sieved (optional, for glazing)

For the frangipane:

• 100g ground almonds
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g softened butter
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. Roll out your puff pastry sheet and cut into whatever sizes you prefer. For each start, fold over about 1 cm along each side to form a border - this raised edge will hold in the frangipane.
3. Prick the bottom of each tart all over with a fork, we don't want the middle rising too much.
4. Bake in the hot oven for about 8 minutes until partly risen and crisp. Take out and leave to cool a little.
5. Meanwhile make the frangipane. In a food processor, mixer, or with a strong arm, cream the butter and sugar together until pale.
6. Gradually beat in two eggs.
7. Fold in the ground almonds and almond extract leaving a smooth mixture.
8. Cut the plums into wedged slices, no more than about 0,5 cm thick.
9. Set your oven to 180C.
10. When the pastry has cooled a bit, spoon the frangipane mixture over the part-baked tarts, taking care to leave the folded edge free..
11. Arrange plum slices all over the top.
12. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the frangipane is golden on top and set inside. Smaller tarts will take less time.
13. For a final touch, heat some sieved jam with a little water, and glaze the fruits with a brush for a shiny finish. Alternatively, dust with icing sugar.
14. Enjoy warm with cream, or equally good cold.

Eggs Benedictine (Poached eggs with spinach sauce)

I love a slow relaxing brunch on a Sunday, and when my sister's visiting I always have to cook some kind of eggs!

This is my variation of Eggs Benedict, or Eggs Florentine, which I'm calling Eggs Benedictine since it's poached eggs with a spinach white sauce. "Going to the bother of making a white sauce on a Sunday morning, are you mad?!", I hear you saying? Don't worry, this is my quick and easy white sauce, which only takes 3 minutes in the microwave!

Serves two

• 4 blocks of frozen spinach, defrosted
• 4 eggs (two each)
• Four slices of brown or rye bread

For the white sauce:

• 2 tsp plain flour
• 2 tsp butter
• 400 ml milk (or milk and water mixed)
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional) grated cheese

1. Put the butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave, about 30 seconds
2. Add the plain flour and mix into the butter until smooth.
3. Gradually add the milk, smoothing out lumps as you go. Once you've added 100 ml or so it should be fine to just add the rest.
4. Zap in the microwave for 1 minute, stir vigorously, then zap for another minute. It should be done! If not cook for another minute. The sauce should be thick like custard.
5. Add grated cheese to taste, if using, then stir in the spinach. Taste it for seasoning.

Poach the eggs however you prefer, this is my easy method with no whirling nonsense. Make sure you use fresh eggs, older eggs tend to dissolve into soup:

1. Fill a sauté pan, or high-sided frying pan, with boiling water from the kettle until it's about 1.5 inches/3 cm deep. Add a sprinkling of salt and put on a low heat. The water should be steaming, but completely still.
2. Gently crack an egg into the water, easing into the water carefully. Repeat for the rest.
3. Turn up the heat slightly and leave the eggs to cook in their bath for about 4-5 mins until the white is set but the yolk still runny.

To assemble:

1. Toast the bread, and pop two slices each on the plate.
2. Pour sauce onto the toast, roughly two tablespoons each slice.
3. Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon - I also blot them a bit with kitchen paper.
4. Place one egg on each slice, and top with cracked pepper. 
5. Enjoy with a nice cup of tea and the Sunday papers!

Damson Jam

I love foraging for berries this time of year - blackberries for pies and crumbles, sloes sooth the winter blues with Sloe Gin, and damsons for tangy damson jam!

Damsons were introduced to Britain by the Romans but goodness knows what they did with them, they're so tart that only tons of refined sugar can tame them! Fortunately I love the sharp plummy flavour of damson jam, and it's very easy to make, particularly with a good jam or sugar thermometer. Damson jam is lovely on toast or hot crumpets - for carnivores it also goes well with rich game meats.

Use whatever quantity you can forage, it's actually easier to boil up smaller quantities of jam than large, particularly if you're a beginner. Make sure they're ripe, they should be juicy and slightly yielding, not too hard but not too soft. Make sure you wash the fruits thoroughly to remove bits of grit, bugs and stray leaves!

1. Weigh the damsons, and measure out an equal weight of white sugar.
2. Clean some jam jars thoroughly either in a dishwasher on a hot cycle, or with hot soapy water and dry them in a 150C oven for 10 minutes.
3. In a pan, add the damsons plus about a cupful of water, depending on quantity, and gently stew the damsons for 5-10 minutes until they're very soft.
4. When the fruits are cooked, place a sieve over a bowl and pour the damsons into the sieve. The fruit should be soft enough to push out the stones - a fiddly process but make sure you get them all, you don't want crunch in your jam!
5. Return the fruit and liquid to the pan, pour in the sugar and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. It should be liquid at this stage so add a splash more water if there's not enough for the sugar to dissolve.
6. Turn up the heat and boil til the mixture reaches the "setting point" of 105C, making sure to stir occasionally so the bottom doesn't burn.
7. When it hits 105C, remove from the heat. Leave to cool slightly, then pour into your prepared jars, close the lid and leave to cool.

Variations

Plums and almonds go wonderfully together, so try Damson and Amaretto Jam! When the jam is cooling in the pan, add a tablespoon or three of Amaretto liqueur. Or for a non-alcoholic version, a teaspoon of almond extract.

Creamy mushroom pasta

I love autumn food - it's my favourite time of year in the kitchen, with mushrooms being one of my favourite things! I've been so busy over the summer I've a few recipes to catch up on, but I had this last night which is simple but a real treat.

A thick flat pasta like pappardelle or tagliatelle is best for mopping up the lovely creamy sauce, I used rigatoni as it was all I had.

Fresh mushrooms are wonderful this time of year - use the best you have available. I used some large meaty portobello mushrooms. Adding dried (or fresh, if you're lucky) porcini mushrooms makes it even more luxurious.

(serves two)

• 100 g mushrooms, sliced
• 100 g double cream
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 220 g pasta
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• Roughly half a glass white wine or light sherry

1. Put on the water for the pasta - by the time the water is heated and the pasta is cooked, your sauce will be ready.
2. Add oil and a knob of butter to a pan and fry the mushrooms for about five minutes until they've slightly browned, darkened and reduced.
3. Stir in the garlic for a minute or so,
4. Pour in the wine, deglazing the pan and getting up any mushroomy juices stuck to the bottom.
5. Turn down the heat and let the wine reduce for a couple of minutes.
6. Add the cream, leaving it on the hob just long enough to heat through, then stir in about half of the parsley and take off the heat.
7. When the pasta is done, strain (saving some of the cooking water), mix the pasta and sauce, adding a little cooking water if it's a little dry.
8. Serve in bowls sprinkled with fresh parsley, black pepper (or paprika) and a generous grating of parmesan. Lovely!

Roasted Carrot and Cumin Soup

With an early British spring there's a glut of carrots here - so, carrot soup! Roasting root vegetables brings out a sumptuous sweetness and depth of flavour, and pairing it with warm spices like ginger, cumin and paprika makes a luscious warming soup.

Makes about 6-8 bowls, depending on greed levels.

• 1 kg carrots, quartered lengthways
• 2 onions, cut into wedges
• 2 parsnips, quartered lengthways
• 2 medium potato, quartered
• 3 tsp cumin
• 3 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp paprika
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• 8 dates, stoned and chopped (optional)
• 1 litre vegetable stock (Swiss Marigold)
• 4 dried birdseye chillies, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Chop the vegetables and place in a large bowl. Pour in a splash of olive oil and mix with your hands until they're all coated.
3. Spread on a baking tray, or probably two trays, and pop into the hot oven for about half an hour until they're roasted and slightly caramelised.
4. Meanwhile, heat a small dry frying pan on the hob and toast the coriander seeds for a few minutes, remove, and then do the same with the cumin. (The cumin seeds toast quicker, so do them separately.)
5. Put in a pestle and mortar and grind.
6. Remove the veg from the oven, tip into a
   
   large saucepan with all the remaining ingredients, and cover with the stock. Add extra stock or water if they're not quite covered.
7. Bring up to a gentle simmer and cook for about 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are soft
8. Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender or liquidiser.
9. Check the seasoning and add more salt, pepper and chilli as you like.
10. Serve in bowls with a dollop of yoghurt or sour cream, a sprinkling of paprika and maybe a dash of chilli oil.

Variations

The parsnips and dates aren't essential but they bring out the sweetness of the carrots.

Grated fresh ginger adds an extra dimension but ground is more likely to be in your cupboards.

Personally I loathe green coriander leaves, to me they turn a lovely soup into foul bath water. But carrot and coriander seems a popular combination, add a sprig of chopped leaves if you insist :)