Curried Parsnip Soup and Ouseburn Open Studios

I'm going to be hanging out at Ouse Street Arts Club again this weekend, as part of Ouseburn Open Studios we are one of 8 venues opening their doors to members of the public. The Ouseburn Valley is the creative heart of Newcastle and on the last weekend of November the much-anticipated Ouseburn Open Studios event sees venues open their doors, offering a unique chance to come and see inside the studios of over 200 artists and designer-makers.

At the Arts Club we have set up an art-mini-mart with work to buy from the lovely Amy Dover, Laura Sheldon, Prefab77, Muro Buro, Bubblegum Vegas and Louise Green. There are some amazing prints framed and unframed, cards, T-shirts, ceramics, jewellery, dresses and tote bags for sale. Totally unique Christmas presents, I might have to do a spot of shopping myself... We also have a tiny pocket cinema showing a range of short films all weekend.

I will be manning the fort and also providing sustenance; Curried Parsnip Soup and Sausage Stew will be on hand to warm you up, with coffee from the Ouseburn Coffee Company by the cup and the bag too...

I discovered this parsnip soup last week when trying to decide what was a fitting end to the parsnips I grew myself this year. It is a simple yet delicious soup that will hopefully keep all the Open Studios visitors warm and full. A rich earthy parsnip soup with spicy curry and garlic, delicious.

Peel and chop 4 large parsnips and 1 onion and add to a baking tray with a big glug of olive oil. Add a clove of garlic still in its skin and 2 teaspoons of medium curry powder, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Then roast at 200°C for about 20 minutes or until golden and soft.

Then add the contents of the tray to 600ml of chicken stock, scraping everything you can out of the baking tray for extra flavour. Then simmer the roasted parsnip mixture in the stock for about 10 minutes. Allow it to cool slightly and check to see if it needs any salt or pepper then blend until it's smooth. I added a tablespoon of crème fraiche at the end for extra creaminess. These amounts will serve 2. The rich earthy parsnip is delicious with the spicy warm curry, just the thing to warm you up as winter approaches...

Partridge in a Paper Parcel

Mr. Hedworth is a mean shot... this means that most weekends at this time of year there is a knock at my door late on a Saturday afternoon, and on opening I'm greeted by a hand clutching a brace of pheasant or duck, or if I'm lucky a partridge and occasionally what feels akin to winning the lottery a couple of woodcock... I love this time of year. I currently have two duck and two pheasant in the freezer and the same again hanging in the porch; god knows what my neighbours make of me... We ate two little grouse last week, with bread sauce and sauté potatoes and this week was the turn of the partridge. My second favourite game bird... the wonderful woodcock will always win...

Last year I made an Italian dish with the partridge, with a beautiful rich meaty tomato sauce, chestnuts and grapes, a delicious dish. This year I turned to Elizabeth David and a somewhat simpler dish that didn’t involve sieving sauces. Partridge en Papillotes, which involves searing the partridge in butter until crisp, then wrapping up in greaseproof paper with butter, bacon, thyme, salt, pepper and orange peel and cooking in the oven, simple but totally delicious. I made a sticky chestnut and pancetta lentil dish to go alongside and my very own home grown parsnips and beetroot roast until golden. I was so proud when I dug them up to find actual full grown vegetables!

Unfortunately I didn’t quite get my timings right, so we sat down to raw partridge the first time round; everything had to come off the plates, back into their parcels, back into the oven, whilst keeping everything else warm. It was a palava to say the least. Next time I'll just do what Elizabeth tells me and keep my own opinions to myself...

So start with your partridge, cut in half, you can ask whoever you get them from to do this for you, or go at them with a pair of shears like I did. Allow one bird per person, they look pretty tiny but you get a surprising amount of meat from them. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan and when it is hot add the birds and pan fry them for 8 minutes, start skin size down, until it is crisp and golden, then turn them about half way through. When they are done season them with salt and pepper, some fresh thyme leaves and a few slices of orange peel and leave them to cool.

To make the lentil dish I slowly cooked diced onion, carrot and celery with a sprig of thyme in butter until soft, then added diced pancetta, a chopped clove of garlic and some diced chestnuts and continued to cook until sticky and delicious, about half an hour. I cooked lentils until they were soft in chicken stock and the liquid was all but gone, added some shredded cabbage to cook through towards the end then stirred through the sticky chestnut and pancetta mixture. This turned out to be a bit of a triumph, I'll definitely be making it again!

When the partridge has cooled cut a strip of greaseproof paper large enough to wrap it up, spread some butter where the partridge will sit, add a slice of bacon, then sit the partridge on top, making sure you put the orange rind in too. Fold the paper over the top of the meat and then fold over and over round the edge until the package is sealed. Then pop them in the oven at about 160°C for 15 minutes. When you get them out of the oven make sure you check them so you don't end up sitting down to raw partridge like I did! Let them rest for 5 minutes under tin foil before you serve.

I served them, eventually, with the pancetta and chestnut rich delicious lentils and my very own home grown parsnips and beetroot. The partridge were delicious, rich and gamey, especially the legs, the parcel was full of buttery juices to pour over the bird and you get lovely hints of thyme and orange. Long may the game season continue, I'm filling the freezer to keep me going...

Parsnip, Gruyere and Thyme Bread

I've been trying my hand at baking more and more recently. A long Bank Holiday weekend offers lots of time, so I set about another type of loaf. My baking started when I was given a sour dough starter before Christmas and I had a go at a few loaves of sour dough to varying degrees of success. Unfortunately the starter is no more, I neglected it a bit too long, I tried to revive it but to no avail. I feel terrible. Like I killed a pet or something... I'm trying to put it behind me...

Since then I have been making homemade flat breads regularly, they are very simple, when you don’t set fire to them, which I managed last week... I even tried them on the bbq, they puffed up beautifully, full of hot air and toasted on the outside, I was so proud! They melted in your mouth... Bread feels like a real achievement to me, I still have huge amounts of confusion and questions about what I'm doing, but just giving it a go is a good starting point I think... I tried a Traditional Soda Bread this weekend, I might have to work on that one a bit more, it looked beautiful but was quite heavy...

My most successful loaf to date has been this Parsnip, Gruyère and Thyme Bread however, adapted from one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipes, he has a lot of simpler recipes for amateur bakers like myself... I had a couple of old sprouting parsnips that were a bit past it and this seemed a good way to put them to use....

To start, heat 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil in a frying pan and slowly cook 1 sliced onion until soft and golden. While it is cooking mix together in a big bowl 175g of grated parsnips, about 2 medium sized ones, 175g of self raising flour, ½ teaspoon of sea salt, 2 teaspoons of thyme leaves, 50g grated gruyere and some ground black pepper. Add the onion to the floury parsnip mix when it is done, along with 1 beaten egg and 2 tablespoons of whole milk. Bring the whole lot together with your hands, it's easier to get to grips with whether it needs a little more milk or not when using your hands. Don't overwork it, just a little gentle kneading...

Then shape it into a ball, flatten slightly and place on an oiled baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 45-50 minutes, until the loaf is golden and makes a hollow sound when you tap the bottom. My bread always seems to take longer than recipes direct so I think my oven is perhaps a bit lower than it tells me.

Leave the bread to cool for ten minutes on a wire rack before slicing. The warm soft parsnip with melted cheese and almost smoky thyme leaves flecked through the bread is delicious. I didn’t get any further than just having slices of it with cold butter, but it would be lovely with an earthy warming soup, perhaps cauliflower or carrot... It is also amazingly good as toast... again with more butter! I love butter... a lot... this new found love of bread baking is doing nothing to reduce my butter intake at all... it's a slippery buttery slope to a butter induced overdose I feel...

Shepherd's Pie with Cheesy Potato and Parsnip Mash

Exciting news... I have my very own magazine column, with Appetite magazine, a new North East foodie publication. They featured a lovely piece about this blog and my Autumn Graze market back in October, and I wrote a little piece about Christmas cooking for them in December. This will now be a regular column in every edition!

My first article is about comfort food... What is it, what does it mean to you, what is your favourite comfort food recipe, would you sit in a bath of risotto? I just discovered a new favourite to add to the list this weekend, Cauliflower and Mascarpone Risotto with Chorizo, creamy and delicious with spicy hot chorizo... You can pick up a copy of Appetite in lots of cafés, restaurants and foodie shops all over the North East, including Stewart and Co, Carruthers and Kent, The Broad Chare, Caffe Vivo, Cafe 1901... To name a few...It is full of recipes, interviews with local chefs and suppliers, recommendations, tips and restaurant tales. The latest edition with my little comfort food article is out right now if you want to seek one out...

This Shepherd's Pie formed part of my 'research' it was really hard work getting cosy in front of the tv with a glass of red wine and a bowl of rich meaty, creamy potato delicious Shepherd's Pie. Really hard work I tell you... Apparently it is the nations favourite comfort food, not sure how this is calculated but I enjoyed mine a lot.

I've made quite few Shepherd's pies over the years, I don't have a consistent recipe, but I think this one is perhaps a keeper. My potato topping to mince ratio was a bit out, too much topping, so I've reduced the amount here and yours should turn out perfect...

Simmer a large potato and a large parsnip cut into chunks in salted water until tender. While they are cooking fry a chopped onion and a diced carrot in 3 tablespoons of butter until they are soft and golden. Then add 450g of raw lamb mince to brown, don't stir it too much, just now and again until it has coloured all over, leave it to cook for about 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of tomato purée and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring as it cooks. Then pour in 250ml of chicken stock and add a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme, some salt and pepper and a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Bring it all to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Pre heat the oven to 190°C and mash the potato and parsnip with some butter and a splash of milk, not too much as you need the topping to be firm. Add the lamb to an oven proof dish and top with the potato and parsnip, add it a little at a time from the centre of the dish, so you get an even spread and it doesn’t just sink in a big lump... Fork the potato into rough peaks so you get good crispy bits when it is cooked and top with a scattering of a grated cheese of your choice... Finally bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes when it is ready, it gets as hot as a volcano in the middle and you just can't appreciate it properly when the first mouthful burns your tongue... Serve with peas or greens, whatever you fancy.

The leftovers the next day are even better I think, if that's possible. I'm currently laid low with a bit of a nasty bug, I think comfort foods like this can cure illness sometimes, or warm you up more than the heating even can, right to the middle... I wish there was some left. I'll have to settle for a new favourite... Haggis and Mash. That should see me right...