Butternut squash soup

I'm sorry I have neglected you of late, little blog. I have been horribly busy so either haven't had time to write posts, or haven't eaten anything worth writing about. Poached eggs on toast have become a staple of mine, along with the exciting variation of poached eggs on marmite toast, but I imagine you all know how to poach an eggs.

If you don't: slide egg into barely simmering water, cover and leave on the lowest possible heat for five minutes. You should also read what Delia has to say on them in How to Cook, in fact everything she has to say on eggs. There are some especially interesting parts on how an eggs changes as it becomes older, and what it can best be used for when it is really fresh, middling, and a few weeks old.

Beyond poached eggs I have totally fallen in love with this butternut squash soup. It's so intensely savoury it almost tastes meaty, but it doesn't even use chicken stock. I've recently discovered Kabocha squash and I imagine it would work just as well here.

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
Butter
Two cloves of garlic
A finger length piece of rosemary
1 scant tsp smoked paprika

Fry the onion gently in butter until it begins to turn translucent. While this is cooking chop the garlic and rosemary as finely as you can - you could use a garlic crusher but I don't think they're worth the hassle of washing up. Add this to the onion and cook until it smells fragrant, then stir in the paprika, cook for one minute then add the squash.

Cover with water and simmer until the squash collapses when you prod it with a wooden spoon, probably about fifteen minutes. Blizt with a stick blender (or any other sort of blender, or put it through a mouli if you prefer to do things traditionally). Eat, for lunch, for a late night snack, or even for breakfast.

Broccoli, feta and carrot salad

This is my current favourite salad. I saw something similar in the window of Ottolenghi in Notting Hill that included broccoli, something orange, possibly butternut squash, feta and seeds of some sort. For me this salad is perfect summer food: refreshing, with a pleasing balance between sweet carrot, salty feta, vinegary dressing and crunchy seeds or nuts.

I tend to use recipes as loose guidelines at best, and with salads this applies even more so. Today I wanted something strong and spicy so added spring onion and red and green chillis. On other occasions I've added a teaspoon of pesto to the dressing or used cashew nuts instead of seeds.



For about three servings, although it depends whether you're eating this on its own (this would be delicious alongside grilled mackerel) I used a small head of broccoli, three carrots, half a packet of feta, two spring onions and two halves of chillies.

Cook the broccoli until it's tender. Meanwhile mix some dressing in a large bowl. I like dressing best made with red wine vinegar. Sometimes I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't understand the fuss about balsamic. I think it's alright on its own but overpowers anything it's paired with.

So, red wine vinegar, a pinch of salt, a drop of mustard and olive oil, stirred together. Add the broccoli while it's hot so it soaks up the dressing. Leave to cool for a bit then throw in the feta, spring onion/chilli/other, some seeds or chopped nuts and some carrots roasted in a hot oven for about 20 minutes.

Best eaten straight out the bowl, in the garden on a hot day. It also makes a damn fine packed lunch.