Butternut Squash & Chorizo Soup

As the nights get darker and the weather wetter, I generally seek solace in a big bowl of comfort food. The slow cooker is back out of it's summer hibernation and I'm trying to make soup out of everything and anything that is left in the cupboard.

This is one of my favourite soups, quick, easy, filling and healthy! It's also nice and bright to cheer up those winter nights.

All you need to feed two (with next day leftovers) is:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 sweet potato
• 2" section of chorizo 
• 800ml (minimum) of vegetable stock
• 1 white onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• Chilli flakes/fresh chilli to taste
• Olive oil

Heat your oven up to 180c and a grab a cup of tea.

First of all, chop up your butternut squash and sweet potato. I peeled the sweet potato as it'd seen better days, but as far as I'm concerned life is way too short to peel butternut squash. Don't forget to scoop out the seeds though.

Throw it all in a roasting dish with your garlic cloves - I leave the skin on these guys too. Give it a shake up with your salt, pepper and a good glug of olive oil. If I'm feeling like it, I'll give it a sprinkle of all spice to add a bit of autumn warmth. Pop it in the oven and chill out for 15 mins.

Haul yourself back to the kitchen and slice up your chorizo into £2 coin sized rounds. Put them in a pan (no oil necessary as they've got enough fat of their own) on a medium heat and watch them crisp up. When they're done to your liking, take them out and pop them to one side.

Next, slice up your onion and put this into the same pan as your chorizo to sweat over a low heat in the leftover spicy oil. Add a bit more oil if needed and watch them take on the golden colour. If you're using fresh chilli, I'd throw this in now too.

Once your onions are nice and soft, check on your roast veggies. They should have had about 40mins in the oven by now, which should be long enough for them to be cooked through and be gloriously plump and squishy.

Pick out the garlic, and pop all the veggies into the saucepan with the onion. Squeeze the garlic out of their skins into the saucepan too, and add your stock and chilli flakes. Give it all a little stir.

Then, make sure to take it off the heat, and if you've got an over enthusiastic stick blender like me, give it five to cool down a little. Then I 'wazz' it up with the blender until it's thick and creamy, and there are no lumps left. And yes, that is a technical term.

I like mine really thick, so the above amount of stock was enough for me. However, if you want this to go a little further, by all means add more at this point if required.

Pour it into your ready warmed bowls, and top with a good grinding of salt and pepper, and your crispy chorizo. Best served with big fat hunks of bread to clean out the bottom of the bowl!

Enjoy!

Cappuccino Cupcakes

I'm finally attempting my first recipe post! I'm currently raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support, for which I'm doing a zipwire challenge in September, and inspired by the Great British Bake Off, I decided the best way to raise some funds is to ply the public with sugar.

I'm not a very big baker by any means. I generally lack the patience. I love everyday savoury cooking but every now and then I do like to indulge in an afternoon of cupcake baking! Who doesn't love a cupcake?

To make 12 cupcakes you'll need:

110g self raising flour

110g margarine

110g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 large free range eggs (I demand free range eggs. Happy hens = better cakes)

For the icing:

425g icing sugar

200g unsalted softened butter

4 teaspoons of instant coffee, dissolved in as little amount of boiling water as possible

A grating of dark or white chocolate

First things first, whack your oven up to 160c and line your cupcake tin ready with the funkiest cases you can find.

Then chuck all the cake ingredients in a bowl, mixer or food processor. Having first started in my tiny flat kitchen making cupcakes, I seem to always get my best results with a wooden spoon and a big ol' bowl. Either way, it gives my arms a good work out! Keep at it until it's nice, fluffy and really well mixed.

Divide the batter evenly between the cases, and bake for about 15-20 minutes. They need to be nicely golden brown on the top, and spring back at you when you give them a poke. Let them cool a bit while you have a cup of tea.

When the cakes are ready for you, it's time for the fun bit. Beat all the icing sugar and butter together in a bowl or food processor to make the buttercream icing. Add in the coffee a teaspoonful at a time, until both the flavour and the consistency are correct.

Then it's up to you to decorate your cakes how you want! I've gone for big swirls of piped coffee buttercream, topped with a dark chocolate disk and a sprinkling of white chocolate to give that cappuccino look! You can do this or pile on a smooth buttercream layer topped with dark chocolate. Let your creativity run with these!

If any of you lovely people wanted to check out my fundraising for Macmillan, then please visit www.justgiving.com/guilfoylesage.

Eurovision 2014

I have a confession. I completely utterly love Eurovision. It's cheesy and camp, trashy and predictable and I love every minute of it.

So much so, that all my friends are starting to share in the love, and my Eurovision parties have now become something of an annual event.

My absolute favourite thing about throwing parties is the fun food.  I spend all week thinking about what to make and Eurovision is no exception. A canapé or two always goes down well at parties like this, as everyone moseys around the kitchen all night, and these are easy to grab without making too much mess!

Canapés and bites this year included...

Cocktails to start off the night? Only one thing for it - Bucks Fizz!

Representing Spain we had tapas swords! An easy to munch combination of olives, serrano ham, sundried tomatoes and chorizo.

Afternoon tea for the United Kingdom! Mini sandwich fingers of cheese, ham, tomato and cucumber.

 Greece was a refreshing blend of watermelon, mint and cubes of creamy feta cheese.

 
Slightly predictable for France, but you can't have a European party without a big hunk of fresh warm, bread and gooey garlic infused Camembert now can you?

Bringing the meat to the party was Germany, with bitesize bratwurst and frikadellen (not pictured).

Next up, a little slice or two of home-made pizza for Italy. Combinations of pesto, parma ham, multicoloured tomatoes and a bucketload of stringy mozarella.

Finally, dessert. I have to admit that I cheated a little with Sweden, thanks to an impromptu Ikea trip the weekend before. But who can turn down those little buns of cinnamon goodness?



And of course, a little fancy dress always helps the cheesy mood too...

Yes, I am supposed to be a viking. The hat was as good as the £3 price tag should have let me believe. Didn't stay on my head for a moment!

A sweepstake, lots of European beer and one bearded lady later?

Douze points!