yoghurt – Bangers & Mash

Free-form spelt pie with spicy beef, butternut squash and feta

March 10, 2017March 10, 2017Posted in MeatTagged beef, British Pie Week, butternut squash, feta, minced meat, pie, yoghurt2 Comments

It’s British Pie Week and Brits up and down the land are apparently celebrating by indulging in their favourite pies, whether homemade or shop-bought, sweet or savoury.

And as a fan of just about anything that comes wrapped in pastry, I felt compelled to offer you one of my own latest pie experiments.

As I’m sure you know by know, baking isn’t really my forte, so a free-form pie crust is right up my street as it’s meant to look ‘rustic’ or, in other words, a bit of a state.

This pie is so quick and easy to pull together, and the spelt wholemeal pastry is surprisingly light and crisp and very tasty. Filled with savoury mince, roast butternut squash and tangy feta cheese, lightly spiced with sumac and cumin, it’s an ideal light lunch or supper dish.

The children loved it and the husband too – although he reckons it would be better served with gravy. I was happy with a yoghurty dressing, but I’ll leave you to make up your own mind on that.

Free-form spelt pie with spicy beef, butternut squash and feta

Serves 6

Half a medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
4 tbsp Pomora rosemary oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
500g beef mince
large pinch of sumac
100g feta cheese, cubed

For the pastry

200g wholemeal spelt flour
large pinch of salt
100g butter, diced
4 tbsp cold water

For the dressing

6 tbsp Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 egg, beaten

steamed green beans to serve

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Place the butternut squash in a roasting tin and toss in 2 tablespoons of the oil. Roast in the oven for around 20 minutes until tender.

To make the pastry, place the flour and salt in a large bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture forms a consistency like breadcrumbs. Gradually mix in the water until you a dough forms. Wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Heat another 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add the cumin seeds, garlic sumac and fry for a minute or so before adding the minced beef. Cook for around five minutes until the mince is browned. Stir in the roasted butternut squash and cubes of feta.

Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Flour your surface, and carefully roll out the pastry into a large circle. Pile the beef filling into the middle of the pastry and gently fold up the sides towards the middle, leaving a small opening.

Brush the pastry with egg was and sprinkle with a little more sumac. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

To make the dressing, simply place the yoghurt, pomegranate molasses and mustard in a bowl and whisk together. Pour over green beans to serve.

Claudia Roden’s kofte kebabs

January 18, 2017Posted in Meat, RecipesTagged beef, claudia roden, kebab, kofte, lamb, pinenuts, turkish food, yoghurtLeave a comment

I know I do harp on a bit about cutting down the amount of meat we eat. And yet, while I love vegetarian food, I could never give up meat completely. My blog is called Bangers & Mash for a reason. Plus, it would mean giving up dishes like this. And that’s simply not happening.

This is one of my favourite recipes from one of my favourite cookery writers, Claudia Roden. I met her briefly following a talk she gave at the Bath Literary Festival a few years back when she signed my copy of Arabesque, from which this recipe comes. I talked to her briefly about my blog and she wished me lots of luck with it, although it was clear the concept of blogging was a bit of a mystery to her. And I successfully managed to refrain from telling her how beautiful I think she is. Because she is. But that might have come across just a little too creepy. Continue reading “Claudia Roden’s kofte kebabs” →

Easy filling ideas for party vol au vents

December 20, 2014June 10, 2017Posted in Meat, RecipesTagged apple, chicken, cinnamon, cream cheese, egg, Family Foodies, ham, party food, smoked salmon, soured cream, vol-au-vent, yoghurt6 Comments

Right up there with mini cocktail sausages and cheese and pineapple chunks on sticks, vol-au-vents are the epitome of 1970s retro chic when it comes to party food. Continue reading “Easy filling ideas for party vol au vents” →

A right pair of raitas

September 30, 2014October 1, 2014Posted in Recipes, VegetarianTagged apple, cucumber, indian, madhur jaffrey, raita, soured cream, the spice trail, yoghurt2 Comments

Whenever we eat curry, we always have raita on the side. It’s quite simply a match made in heaven. I’ve never actually followed a raita recipe though, generally just making it up as I go along, chucking together some yoghurt, mint, cucumber and perhaps a pinch of spice or squeeze of lime, depending on my mood.

But the other day when I made Madhur Jaffrey’s wonderful chicken tikka kebabs from her Ultimate Curry Bible, I came across a couple of her raita recipes and thought I’d give them a go. And they are ever so good. Continue reading “A right pair of raitas” →

Family Foodies round-up: chill out, baby!

August 2, 2014August 3, 2014Posted in Competitions and challengesTagged chilled, drink, Family Foodies, ice cream, lisa faulkner, summer, yoghurt5 Comments

Here in Somerset, we’ve been enjoying some real scorchers in recent weeks, which has been perfect for the start of the school holidays. Your entries for July’s Family Foodies challenge have proven simply perfect inspiration for deliciously refreshing ways to chill out in this sticky heat.

Continue reading “Family Foodies round-up: chill out, baby!” →

Easy banana yoghurt puds

June 19, 2013Posted in Puddings and desserts, Recipes, VegetarianTagged banana, blueberries, food waste, ripe banana, trifle sponge, yoghurt4 Comments

I found myself with a bunch of over-ripe bananas the other day. Normally the first thing I’d think to make would be banana bread but on a warm June afternoon, following a day spent in a stuffy office, the last thing I wanted to do was bake.

So I came up with this very quick and simple banana yoghurt dessert, with a base of trifle sponge – something else I needed to use up.

I felt very virtuous knowing I’d avoided filling the food waste bin and we had a scrummy pudding in less than ten minutes. Result.

Easy banana yoghurt puds

Serves 4

6 trifle sponges
apple juice
4 or 5 ripe bananas
500g natural yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp runny honey
blueberries (or any other fresh berries) to garnish

Break up the trifle sponges and divide between four glasses or small bowls. Drizzle over a little apple juice – just enough to soak into the sponges and make them soft.

In a blender, simply whizz up the bananas with the yoghurt, vanilla extract and honey. Pour the banana mixture over the trifle sponges in each glass and garnish with blueberries or whatever berries you might happen to have in the fridge.

It’s so easy it hardly warrants a recipe but you’ve got one anyway!

Birthday beats and eats

April 11, 2013April 15, 2013Posted in Puddings and desserts, RecipesTagged birthday, biscuits, cook, cookies, digestive biscuits, Frankie and Bennys, great shakes, music, Oz the great and powerful, party, peach, tinned peaches, wells, Wild Honey, yoghurt11 Comments

Phew! It’s been a crazy few weeks for birthdays in our family. In the last four weeks it’s been my birthday, my father-in-law’s, my husband’s, both my daughter’s and my father’s. With Easter thrown in the there too, I really have no desire to see any more cake or chocolate for quite a while. The 5:2 diet really hasn’t had a chance…

On Monday it was my husband Jason’s birthday. We celebrated with scrummy milkshakes and smoothies at lunchtime at Great Shakes in Wells and later a delicious ‘homemade’ dinner bought from COOK, followed of course by cake. I love the look of surprise on Jason’s face to see yet another birthday cake.

Yesterday it was my daughter Jessie’s go as she turned eight. Now how did that happen? It really does not seem eight years ago Jason and I returned home from hospital with our scrawny little bundle. We got home and put Jess in the middle of the living room in her car seat for a while, just looking at her, wondering what on earth we were meant to do next. And now look at her – our beautiful big girl with such curiosity, creativity and a thirst for life. It’s hard to keep up with her sometimes but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jessie’s big day involved a meal at a restaurant with her very best friends, followed by a movie. We watched Oz The Great and Powerful in 3D, thoroughly enjoyed by both the children and adults alike. The kids were especially thrilled with their 3D specs as they offered lots of opportunities for to pose for photo after photo as we attempted to get them all home after the film.

We took the children to Frankie and Benny’s for food beforehand – not normally my restaurant of choice but it happened to be right next to the cinema. I have to say though, for a group of kids, it was absolutely perfect and they had a whale of a time. Especially when our waitress switched off the lights and played Congratulations by Cliff Richard as she brought out the birthday cake. Jessie’s friends will be teasing her about how red she went for quite a while I bet!

Fortune teller (or whirlybird) kits in the party bags also went down well. Thanks to Lia at Dizzy Loves Icy for that idea. Coming up with silly fortunes kept them all entertained while they waited for their pizzas and burgers to arrive.

Jessie shares her birthday with her Grandad Chris, my Dad, who yesterday celebrated his 60th birthday. We didn’t get to see him unfortunately as he’s in London and we’re in Somerset but Sue, my Step Mum treated him to a slap up meal at Wild Honey in Mayfair, lucky thing.

As my Dad is renowned for his love of music, various members of my family have been extremely busy the last few weeks compiling a very special music compilation for him, featuring a different song to mark every year of his life, from 1953 right up to the present. We called the album Birthday Beats and the 60 tracks filled four CDs. Do you like the artwork?

Artists on Birthday Beats range from Perry Como, Elvis Presley and Dave Brubeck in the 50s; through Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins and The Beatles in the 60s; The Pointer Sisters, Al Green and The Jam in the 70s; Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Talking Heads and The Housemartins in the 80s; right through to Blur, Bjork and The Fugees in the 90s; and Taj Mahal, Ojos de Brujo and Medeski, Martin & Wood in the last decade (I hate to say noughties).

It was such good fun putting the album together and I think the final selection reflects just as much on the family that compiled it as it does on my Dad’s evolving taste in music through the last six decades.

And because this is a food blog, I really need to end this post with a recipe. So here’s a simple recipe for an easy peach pudding I remember my Dad making us when I went down to stay during the school holidays. It’s probably a bit far-fetched to describe this a recipe, as it’s simply three ingredients layered one on top of the other in a bowl. But when I was little I thought this was one of the most amazing desserts ever created and I still love it to this day.

Easy peach pud

Serves two

4 digestive biscuits
Half a tin of sliced peaches, chopped
6 tbsp plain yoghurt

Break the biscuits into two bowls or glasses. Place the chopped peaches on top, pour over the yoghurt, and serve.

The perfect easy-peasy-peachy-squeezy pudding. Thanks Dad! And happy birthday Reeses and Hamers! Until next year…

Simple banana smoothie

January 9, 2013Posted in Drinks, Recipes, VegetarianTagged banana, breakfast, milk, smoothie, yoghurt6 Comments

Normally my children have pretty healthy appetites, so when they tell me they’re not hungry that’s a sure-fire sign they must be poorly.

Over the past couple of weeks both my girls have been a bit ill – and my husband too – and so I’ve turned to the good old smoothie to make sure I get some sustenance into them. Even when they’re feeling pretty grotty, they can generally manage a glass or two of smoothie.

Of course these smoothies are too good only to have when illness strikes and they’re a brilliant way to use up those over-ripe bananas. You can also add any soft fruit you happen to have in. We keep a bag of berries in the freezer and I like to chuck in a handful or two of those. But here’s the basic banana recipe.

Simple banana smoothie

Serves 4

3 or 4 bananas
4 tbsp plain or Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp runny honey
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 pints of cold milk

Chop the banana into a blender or smoothie maker and add the rest of the ingredients. Simply whizz up until smooth and serve to your patients.

Black cherry frozen yoghurt

November 14, 2012Posted in Puddings and desserts, RecipesTagged black cherries, black cherry, canned fruit, cherries, cherry, frozen yoghurt, greek yoghurt, ice cream, tinned fruit, yoghurt6 Comments

One day when I’m properly grown up I will buy myself an ice cream maker. Probably when I’m grown up enough to have a kitchen big enough to store an ice cream maker in.

But for now I feed my hunger for home-made ice creams with recipes like this, for semifreddos and frozen yoghurts, that don’t actually require a machine.

This is such an easy and delicious dessert; one you can rustle up with largely store cupboard ingredients. Although do bear in mind you’ll need to take it out the freezer every half an hour and whisk until it’s frozen, so don’t plan to go out anywhere until it’s done. Obviously we generally prefer our fruit fresh, but we always have some of the tinned variety (peaches, mandarins and in this case black cherries) lurking at the back of the cupboard for those ‘just in case’ pudding needs.

I like a little fruity texture to my frozen yoghurt so I puree the cherries in two batches. Feel free to puree all in one go if you prefer yours smooth.

Black cherry frozen yoghurt

2 x 400g tins of black cherries (pitted)
500g low fat Greek yoghurt
3tbsp caster sugar
juice and zest of half a lemon

Put two-thirds of the cherries in the food processor, along with the yoghurt, sugar, lemon juice and zest and puree until fairly smooth. Add the remaining cherries and whiz a smidge longer, just long enough to slightly break up the last lot of cherries.

Pour the mixture into a plastic container, cover and place in the freezer. Whisk the mixture well every half an hour until it is just frozen. This will take about two to three hours.

The frozen yoghurt is ready to eat when you can’t whisk it any more, and is best consumed within two to three weeks.

If you like this, you might also like…

Afghan-style aubergine and yoghurt

October 23, 2012October 26, 2012Posted in Recipes, VegetarianTagged Afghan, aubergine, burani bonjon, chillies, coriander, eggplant, greek yoghurt, mint, Sally Butcher, Veggiestan, yoghurt9 Comments

As soon as I came across this recipe for Afghan-style aubergine and yoghurt in a recent edition of Delicious magazine, I knew I had to make it. I adore aubergine dishes and the Middle Eastern flavours in this one simply called out to me.

The recipe comes from Sally Butcher, a British-born cook who married into an Iranian family, and it is taken from Veggiestan: a Vegetable Lover’s Tour of the Middle East. I don’t own this book yet but I plan to get hold of a copy very soon.

It’s an incredible dish. The herbs and spices, lemon, garlic and chilli give it a beautifully fragrant zinginess, which works so well with the creaminess of the Greek yoghurt and the soft, sumptuous texture of the smoky aubergine.

I did worry it might be a little grown up for the children and so I made a version without the chilli for them. Miss Bangers, the four-year-old, did have to be persuaded a little to get through it. But Miss Mash, the seven-year-old, wolfed it down happily.

Afghan-style aubergine and yoghurt (burani bonjon)

3 large aubergines
salt
vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
4 green chillies, chopped (optional)
1 tsp ground turmeric
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

For the yoghurt

450ml Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
handful of fresh mint, chopped, plus extra sprigs for the garnish
salt and pepper

Cut the aubergine into half centimetre slices and sprinkle salt on both sides. Leave for half an hour, then rinse in cold water and dry with kitchen towel.

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion and chillies (if using) until soft. Remove and keep to one side.

Add some more oil to the pan and fry the aubergine in batches until slightly browned on each side. Sprinkle the aubergine with a little turmeric and return the slices to the pan with the chopped tomato, coriander, onion and chillies. Pour in enough water to just cover the ingredients, cover with a lid, turn down the heat and simmer gently for about half an hour. Add a little more liquid if it starts to look too dry.

While this is cooking, prepare the yoghurt. Simply mix the yoghurt and lemon juice in a bowl, stir in the crushed garlic and mint, and season to taste. Place in the fridge.

When the aubergine mixture is ready, spread half the yoghurt across a large serving plate, and then place half the aubergine on top. Cover with more yoghurt, the remaining aubergine and finishing with a last dollop of yoghurt and a sprig or two of mint.

Serve straight away with warm pitta or flatbread. Heavenly.

As this dish features lots of tasty mint and coriander, I’m entering it into October’s Herbs on Saturday blog challenge hosted by Karen at Lavender & Lovage. If you enjoy cooking with herbs, do head over there and take a look at the other recipes submitted as you’re sure to find plenty of new inspiration.