Baby Mia - Half baby, half bear

Here’s something a little off topic for this site, but getting prepared more often in my kitchen now than anything else; my daughter Mia’s baby food.  We’ve been determined since she was born to cook all of (OK, most of) her food instead of buying it those little jars, so this is my opportunity to pass on some of what we’ve learned.  Mia loves them and I’m sure your babies will too.

Most of these recipes involve pureeing, but as your little one gets older you might want to try mashing instead to start the change onto solid food.

Why not let us know about your favourites by posting them into the comments?

1. Banana and oat smoothie. Simply boil 150ml or so of full fat milk with 3 tablespoons oats for 3 minutes, then throw in half a chopped up banana and blitz up with a hand blender.  This is great for adults, too (idea from the River Cottage Everyday cookbook).
2. Baby Barszcz (Borscht). My wife is Polish so it makes sense that Mia too should share in this great East European classic.  Simply cook beetroot with potato (roughly 3/1 ratio), puree, and stir in a little yoghurt.  Thin with a little boiled water if needed.
3. Baby Porridge. (Note: Sticking the word “baby” in front of what is otherwise adult food seems to make it sound somehow more cute.)  Mia’s dad (Me!) has Scottish blood, and so Mia gets a Scottish breakfast.  150ml full fat milk and 3 tbsp oats boiled for 3 minutes and then pureed.  Yes, it’s a simple version of recipe 1 in the list above, but I don’t care – it’s delicious.  Mix in any pureed fruit of your choice for a little variety.
4. Guacamole.  This is delicious and mild for adults so babies will love it too; skip some of the ingredients from the traditional adult version and what we’re basically doing is a puree of avocado with a touch of very finely chopped coriander / cilantro.
5. Super Detox Broccoli Soup. Not that I think babies need to detox, but a baby version of my so-named soup from last year is simple and healthy.  Simply simmer the broccoli florets for a couple of minutes, remove and puree, adding some of the cooking water to make a suitable consistency.
6. Neeps and Tatties. Even Baby Mia didn’t miss out on Burn’s Night this year.  While we enjoyed our haggis, neeps and tatties, Mia enjoyed the same – minus the haggis, of course.  Simply boil 50/50 potato and swede (don’t even get me started on the difference between a swede and a turnip!) until tender, then mash as normal with a touch of butter.  Mashing is a great way to make the progression from a puree to solid food.
7. Rice Pudding. My confession here is that I just can’t get enough of Ambrosia Cream Rice from tins , but it is really pretty easy to make at home, too.  Simply boil an equal volume of cooked rice and milk with just a dash of vanilla extract until creamy.  Depending on the age of your baby you might want to purée this to make it easier for them to eat.
8. Cauliflower Cheese. Simply boil some cauliflower florets until tender, then drain.  Heat 50/50 flour and butter over a low heat to combine, then slowly pour in whole milk and heat for a few more minutes stirring well.  Add back in your cauliflower and grate in some cheddar, then puree as required.
9. Minestrone Soup. This soup is packed full of vegetables so is perfect for growing babies who need their vitamins.  Sauté finely diced onion with leek, and carrots, adding peas  and tomato purée before simmering in water or vegetable stock until tender.  Add in spaghetti (well broken up) and continue cooking until this is ready.  Finally serve either as is, mashed or puréed depending on your baby’s age.
10. Risotto. A basic vegetable risotto is perfect for babies, using broccoli, pumpkin or similar; just play safe and keep the amount of salt down and you’ll be fine.  As a rough guide, sweat your finely chopped veg with onion in butter, before adding your rice and stirring.  Add stock a little at a time always stirring and allowing it to fully absorb.  It’s also a good idea to cook it for a little longer than you might otherwise do to make it nice and soft for your little one.

Jerusalem Artichoke

It is this flavour which lends itself especially well to a simple soup. While it may seem a recipe cop-out to simply make a soup out of every vegetable which comes along, this served up with a touch of double cream and just a few drops of truffle oil on top can make a really impressive first course. You could also skip the pureeing process and the double cream altogether for something chunky and a little healthier, but either way tastes perfect.

If you’ve never tried the Jerusalem Artichoke before, now is the time – they’re in season right through Winter and you should be able to get hold of them all the way through till late February. A word of warning though – they are reported to have *ahem* rather gassy side effects. Luckily I’ve never experienced that, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup Recipe – Ingredients & Method

• 750g of Peeled & diced Jerusalem Artichokes
• 1 stick of celery, chopped
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 UK pint (roughly 1.25 US pints) of chicken stock
• Double cream (optional)
• Butter
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Start out by putting your celery, onion and leek into a saucepan with the butter and cook over a low-medium heat for 5 minutes or so until softened slightly, then add in your Jerusalem Artichokes and cook for another 3 minutes stirring regularly.

Now pour in your chicken stock and bring to a boil, reducing down to a simmer and leaving for 15 minutes approximately until everything is soft.  Now you have the choice between serve as-is (add a bit more chicken stock if needed to thin the soup down) or puree; if you are pureeing it, simply add a little double cream off the heat to create a velvety smooth texture.

Season before serving and drizzle a little truffle oil over the top (if pureed) for a touch of luxury.  You’ll love it, I promise.

Pomegranate and Feta Salad

This recipe is part of my new found love of pomegranates; a leafy salad with pomegranates and feta cheese. It’s surprisingly good, and a great festive alternative to all the turkey you’re likely to be eating.  We cheated and used a bag of ready bought salad leaves for this (hey, Delia gets away with it), but it would be even better if you made up your own.

Christmas Salad of Feta and Pomegranate – Ingredients & Method

• 1 Bag of leafy salad OR a selection of your own salad leaves, including Radicchio and Lambs’ Lettuce.
• A handful of chopped feta
• 1 Pomegranate
• Black pepper, to taste

Start out by preparing your salad; equal portions of any leafy types will work well together, but try and include some bitter varieties in there.  Next add a handful of chopped feta, the seeds from 1 pomegranate, and about 1/2 the juice.  Toss lightly then finish with a twist of black pepper.

Enjoy!

Pomegranate, Onion and Coriander Salad

The ingredients might sound weird, but what you end up with is a sweet and sour flavoured salad which doesn’t taste onioney.

This has got to be worth a try, hasn’t it?

Pomegranate, Onion and Coriander Salad

(ingredients are in bold below)

1. Finely slice 2 red onions.
2. Cover with the juice of 2 limes and 1 pomegranate, eave for 30 minutes then drain the juice.Leave for 30 minutes then drain and dispose the juice (this is what takes away the onion flavour).
3. Add the pomegranate seeds and a handful of chopped coriander and you’re done!

Golden Beetroot Carpaccio

Normally, a carpaccio is a dish made from thin slices of meat or fish, accompanied by a tangy dressing with vinegar, mustard, or lemon juice. The same principles apply with this beetroot carpaccio, too; wafer thin slices (I don’t have a mandoline, but use one if you do), arranged on a plate and drizzled with a balsamic and olive oil dressing. A selection of chopped up herbs finishes the job.

The ingredients here are given as a guideline; I’m sure you can do better than my attempt though, so feel free to use this as inspiration and have a play around.

Golden Beetroot Carpaccio Recipe – Ingredients & Method

• 4 Golden Cooked Beetroots
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Chives, chopped.
• Basil, ripped up.
• Salt & Pepper

Start off by peeling & slicing your beetroot; discard the ends for now so that your slices are around the same size, then arrange on a plate.  Make your dressing by mixing 1 part balsamic to 3 parts extra virgin olive oil with salt & pepper added to taste, and drizzle over the beetroot.  Finally sprinkle over with the chopped herbs and your done.  Enjoy!

Wild Tomato Salad

I’m going to throw out a bit of a plug to my organic veggie box suppliers here; feel free to skip this paragraph if blatant recommendations aren’t your thing.  I’ve been getting my box from Woodlands Farm in (my home county) Lincolnshire delivered every two weeks for the past 6 months or so and it’s really changed the way I eat.  There’s something great about having your food come to you, rather than you going to your food; you’ll pretty much be able to guess what arrived in my box each week from what I blog about.

This recipe is pretty well timed, too.  I received a cookbook recently called “The Tomato Book” (which I’ll review later in the week) and spent hours staring at the 60 page (!) section about tomato types; salivation just doesn’t begin to describe it.  Why are the ones I’m growing all boring and red?

Wild Tomato Salad Recipe – Ingredients & Method

• Handful of “Wild” tomatoes – basically different shapes and colours.
• Rocket
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

This is such a simple one to create; simply create a dressing from balsamic vinegar mixed with olive oil, salt & pepper, then use to coat the tomatoes (I halved mine; chop smaller dependant upon size) and rocket.  Leave for an hour or so for the flavours to come together then enjoy!

No, they're not parsnips.

Now, how to cook a white carrot and still keep it interesting?  A quick scan of the internet shows recipes ranging from white carrot juice to white carrot cake.  Since I’ve not tasted white carrot before, I opted for a recipe which would highlight its flavour (a bit more delicate than a “normal” carrot, I think); the humble soup.

Before you ask, the reason there’s no picture of the finished article (the soup) is down to a pure lack of skill on my behalf. An very pale bowl of soup is hardly photogenic and I have neither the talent nor the patience to make it so, but I make no apology.  You want carrots, you got ‘em.

And did you know that orange carrots have only been around since the 16th century, when they were developed by the Dutch?

White Carrot Soup Recipe – Ingredients & Method

• Bunch of white carrots (I’m no good with exact quantities; go for around 6 decent sized carrots), diced
• 2 Leeks, sliced
• 1 Stick celery, sliced
• Pinch dried thyme
• 1/2 Clove Garlic, finely sliced.
• Chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to season
• 1 tbsp Italian Chestnut honey (buy normal if preferred)
• 1 tbsp Double cream

Begin by sweating off the vegetables in a little olive oil for 5 minutes before pouring in 750ml of chicken stock and adding the thyme.  Simmer for 20 minutes until all of the vegetables are soft, then whizz in a blender until smooth.  Add the honey and double cream and stir well.  If too thick thin with water to the desired consistency then season to taste.

Some variations on the net use Gruyere Cheese as an addition which sounds delicious.

Ready for the oven...

I’ve been going tomato crazy this year, boring the hell out of everyone at work with almost daily updates on how my batch of home grown ones are doing.  My modest 4 plants are in the conservatory and have been providing me with a reasonable, if not plentiful harvest.  My recent idea to fill pretty much all of the floor space with plants next year was met with instant disapproval from Gosia; needless to say I agreed with her opinion (like any good husband), but will go ahead and do it anyway.

Sun drying is just one technique you can use to preserve tomatoes should you be lucky enough to have a glut of them this year.  Even better, you don’t need the sun to do it – great for those of us living in England, where this summer is turning out to be yet another wash out.

The basic idea is simple.  You take a load of tomatoes, chop them in half and place on a wire tray (as pictured), then sprinkle with salt (Maldon sea salt is great) and dried herbs of your choice.  It’s then out into the sun or (more realistically in the UK), into the oven until dried.  In my gas oven this meant 130 degrees c (266 degrees f – the lowest it would go – around 100 would be perfect) for about 8 hours, opening the door slightly for the last few hours to prevent them burning.  Once dried you can store them in a sterilised jar filled with olive oil until needed; the oil will absorb some of the flavour over time making a great by-product.  Incidentally I prefer them “semi-dried” – this gives all the benefits but still leaves them instantly munchable should you be unable to resist (but be aware they wont keep long like this).

This year I’ve done it with both my own home-grown tomatoes, and cheap supermarket varieties.  I can now report back that the uneven sizes of my home grown ones were a big mistake (the smaller ones burnt before the bigger ones were done).  The difference in taste between my own and the supermarket ones when fresh was immediately noticable; not so once they were dried.  I can therefore happily recommend this as a way of transforming cheap tomatoes into a gourmet food, should you not have any of your own to hand.

I love them tossed into pasta, salads, and on a slice of crusty bread drizzled with olive oil.  Why not give it a go?

Rhubarb Fool

I love this time of year. Sure, there are still the cold days (just this morning the front lawn was covered in frost) but there are also little hints of summer shining through; the odd day which appears unexpectedly with temperatures high enough walk around in just a t-shirt. In fact, I’m sure I could smell some of the neighbours cooking their first barbecue of the year this weekend.

A “fool” is a great and traditional way of showcasing in season fruit. You can try and be fancy (I’ve tried many different recipes before) but I’ve yet to find anything which beats the simplicity of stewed fruit folded into whipped cream. Confusingly, rhubarb is actually a vegetable, but that doesn’t stop it being right at the top of my list of seasonal foods, and my favourite for deserts such as this.  Give it a go with gooseberries or raspberries too – it works just as well.

Rhubarb Fool Recipe – Ingredients

• 4 Large Sticks of Rhubarb
• 50g (1.75 oz) Caster Sugar
• 200ml (6.75 fl. oz) Double Cream
• Couple of drop of Vanilla Essence

Rhubarb Fool Recipe – Ingredients

1. Chop up the rhubarb and place in a saucepan with 1tbsp water and the sugar.
2. Turn on the heat and stir around a bit; it’ll start out quite dry (keep stirring it for now to prevent the sugar catching on the pan) but will moisten up as the juice is released from the rhubarb.
3. Boil until the rhubarb is soft.  This will take 10 minutes or so.
4. Whip the double cream with the vanilla until it forms soft peaks.  When this stage is reached pour in the rhubarb and fold in until loosely combined.  Don’t worry about getting it fully mixed in, it looks much better when it’s not.
5. Empty into wine glasses and allow to chill for an hour or so before serving.

Curried Parsnip Soup

The parsnip.  Not a very exciting vegetable on its own and certainly one that always seems to be left lurking when my vegetable box is almost empty, but one which works incredibly well with other flavours.  A curried parsnip soup is one way of using this vegetable which is becoming pretty well known, so here’s my take on that classic.  Parsnip seems to work really well with tomato, I can’t see why the combination is not used more often.

Soups are so easy I can barely see a reason why most people still insist on getting them from a tin. I know time isn’t the issue (despite most people’s protest that it is), since this soup took me around 20 minutes in total including preparation.  No excuses!

The chilli flakes in the picture are perhaps a little overkill – I enjoyed them but some of you may not.  Leave them out if you feel it necessary.

This recipe is also my entry to this weeks food blogging event “Weekend Herb Blogging”, being held over at Kopiaste.

Spiced Parsnip and Tomato Soup Recipe – Ingredients

• 3 Large Parsnips, peeled & diced
• 1 Tin Plum Tomatoes, in juice
• 1 Litre (2.11 pints) Chicken Stock
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 1 tsp Curry Powder
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Cumin

Spiced Parsnip and Tomato Soup Recipe – Method

1. Start by gently frying the onion in a little olive oil until softened (5 mins approx).
2. Add the powdered spices and stir.
3. Pour in the chicken stock and add both the tinned tomatoes and parsnips.
4. Simmer until the parsnip is soft, then purée.  Add a little water to loosen if too thick.
5. Pour in approx 1tbsp double cream and stir well; add a little more to give it a velvety smooth texture.

Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkling of chilli flakes if you like it spicy.  Enjoy!