Weekly menu 11/11/11

Our weekly veg box has arrived and that can only mean one thing...time to plan the weekly menu chez Bear.

Things I'm particularly excited about this week:

Hypnotising veg

Romanesco cauliflower.  The Bear has reliably informed me that the pretty green spirals are fractal pattens. So beautiful. And tasty. I will be turning this into a lovely little pasta dish.

How now etc.

Brown Cow vanilla yoghurt. This is the best yoghurt ever. I urge you to find some of this stuff. Perfect with a little fruit compote for breakfast.


Anyhow, here's what we're going to be eating...

Weekly menu 11/11/11


Dinners:


Roast chicken served with savoy cabbage and roasted potatoes, parsnips and carrots.

Cajun dirty rice made with finely diced chicken giblets, celery and yellow pepper.

Mutton Lancashire hotpot served with savoy cabbage and leeks.

Pizza with mozzarella, chorizo, yellow pepper and capers.

Penne with chilli, anchovy and roasted romanesco cauliflower.

Lunch:
Autumn minestrone soup

Breakfast:
Sharon fruit compote served with vanilla yoghurt 

*N.B. I am aware that there are in fact 7 days in a week, but I never plan for that amount as there are always nights where there are leftovers that need using / I can't be bothered to cook so we get something (chilli! curry! stew!) out the freezer / The Bear is hungry for a dirty takeaway.

Beetroot and cumin soup with spiced yoghurt

Home-made soup + home-made bread = lunchtime WIN

Okay, okay, so I know I did a post about soup only recently, but I eat a lot of soup, and this one was so delightful I just couldn't help but post about it.

Plus, this is a HFW recipe which means it is automatically 100% awesome.

You can never have enough soup, guys. Srsly.

Beetroot and cumin soup with spiced yoghurt

From River Cottage everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Serves 4-6

750g peeled beetroot

knob of butter

olive oil

1 large onion

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp cumin seeds

800ml chicken stock

fresh parsley

s+p

For the spiced yoghurt:

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

4 tbsp natural yoghurt

dash of olive oil

s+p

Gently cook the onion, garlic and cumin seeds with the butter and olive oil, for about 15 minutes. Add the beetroot, chopped into small chunks. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Blend, then season to taste.

Make the spiced yoghurt by toasting and grinding the spices and adding to the yoghurt and olive oil. Serve the soup sprinkled with chopped parsley and dribbled with the spiced yoghurt. Yummers.

Creamy courgette soup

Soup, glorious soup!

Man, I love soup. I really do. It's so wholesome and comforting and you get to dunk bread into it. It's also super-easy to make, a great way to use up that bit of carrot / celery / whatever lurking at the bottom of your veg drawer, and I have never met a soup that doesn't freeze well either.

People often complain that courgettes can be a bit -meh- in terms of flavour, but turned into this lovely little soup I think they are just perfect.

This soup uses a leftover rind of parmesan to add flavour. When you've grated all the good stuff you can off your hunk of parmesan DON'T THROW THE RIND AWAY! It's just perfect for pepping-up a italian style soup. I love being thrifty like this - gives me a smug glow for hours, honestly.

Creamy courgette soup


Serves 4 


4 large courgettes
2 sticks of celery
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 a small pot of single cream
chicken stock - homemade is obviously best, but if you don't have any I find the little stock jellies to be much better in terms of flavour than stock cubes.
a leftover rind of parmesan
a handful of parsley
a handful of basil
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper


Chop the onion, garlic and celery and sweat in a pan with a little salt, for about 10 minutes. Chop the courgettes and add to the pan for a further couple of minutes. Add the chicken stock and the parmesan rind, and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the parmesan rind, add the herbs and blend. Add the cream and season to taste. Serve drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil. Add some bread and call it lunch.