Butternut Squash and Pesto Soup | Book of Elsa

This recipe was born out of necessity, barely anything in the cupboards but dinner still needs to be had and it needs to be delicious. I've been making different version of this soup for years but this variant is by far the quickest. You can come home from work on a cold as hell winters' night and be eating this soup within the hour.
You're welcome.
Ps: You can add some cooked chicken, fish, tofu, whatever but let me tell you this soup is great without any addition.
I've eaten this over the years with all kinds of breads. Naan is my favourite, pitta comes a close second, if you have one of those part baked bread rolls. Use that. Also regular sliced bread and <un>salted butter will do too. Anyways, I digress...

Time - Book of Elsa

Now is the time to believe in magic 

Now is the time to believe in people

Their goodness, openess and ability for kindness

Now is the time to put trust in our neighbours 

Believing that they mean us no harm.

They want the same things we all do.  

When our world is shutting down, everywhere we look nothing but bad news. Fake news.

There's time to spread something else too. 

If not you then who? not now?! I hear you... 

But when and whom?

They say change is slow.

I disagree. Change is people.

It is you and it's me

Now is the time to be the change you wish to see. 

Start small: have a conversation...

How about right now?

Book of Elsa

Sunday Apple Tart - Book of Elsa

Morning all,
My parents gitfted me a whole load of bramleys cooking appples, and buy gifted you understand they wanted me to bake a pie or tart out of it. For them!
Ofcourse I don't mind it's the weekend afterall, prime baking time. The recipe that follows is mine: trialled and error from years of practice.
I did however buy the pastry but if you want to make one (why???) then click for a recipe here

use butter to greas the pie dishe and line with coat to coat, lightly.

roll out the shortcrust pasty

Line the pie case with pastry and plug the holes so to speak with leftover pastry dont worry about it being neat it's meant to look homemade.

                                  Prick the pastry with a fork all over to stop it doming in the oven

Using non stick baking parchment line the base of the tart with baking beads or lentils or rice. Bake in a preheated oven at 200℃ for 10-15mins.

Take out the lentils and cool on a wire rack completely before filling.

Take a load of cooking apples

Peel 

Wash and chop 

Add the zest and juice of a clementine, 150g caster sugar and cook until mushy.

Peel and finely slice 2 eating apples and place in lemon water

Bubbling apples almost ready, take out the clementine skin

Let it cool a little off the heat

Beat an egg

Paint egg onto cooled tart shell

Fill the tart with the apple compote and add the sliced leftover apples on top

Bake for a further 10-15mins at 200℃ 

Finally, paint the tart with warm apricot jam. serve warm.

Steamed Fish, Courgette Salad & Bagna Cauda | Book of Elsa

A simple weeknight supper: go on, you know you want to...

Spread some butter on aluminium foil.

Put fish on top of butter 'base'

Add more butter, salt and pepper on  top of the fish; I'm using basa fillet but obviously you can use any fish you desire. 

Wrap a tightly sealed package, then bake in a very hot oven for 15 minutes.

Courgette salad ingredients: salt, lemon juice and finely sliced courgettes

Bagna Cauda ingredients: anchovies, butter, garlic and rapeseed oil (or you can use olive oil)

Grate the garlic and finely mince the anchovies and put into the cold oil

On medium heat whisk in the butter one cube at a time

serve the sauce with some steamed potatoes, salad and the steamed fish. 

Orange Scented French Toast | Book of Elsa

To anyone familiar with my Instagram these are no surprise: I adore french toast. Most of the time I can only make them on saturdays when I have time to let the custard soak into the bread  and cook in butter low and slow, like. I'm salivating just thinking about it. This orange scented version is extra special and I hope you try it. However, the orange flavoured syrup showed on the picture above is not very good and I would not even think of giving you the recipe until it's perfect so I'd suggest you have greek yoghurt with.

How To Eat | Book Review

Cucumber and Yoghurt Salad | Book of Elsa

Technically speaking this is not a salad but more of a dip/side dish. Try it just once with some plain roast chicken and warm pitta. I dare you. The proof of this 'salad' really is in the eating. I suppose it is twist on the tzatziki sauce from Greece if I were to think about it but honestly, I just love the taste of the cool cucumber and yoghurt against the heat of the onion and chilli.

Yoghurt Drop Scone | Book of Elsa

Yoghurt Drop Scone... The title says it all: a quintessential Sunday family breakfast favourite that are easy to knock-up and utterly delicious. This particular recipe is adapted from the cookbook Mamushka from OIia Hercules a review of which is available here 

Book Review | Mamushka - Olia Hercules

Marinated Pork Belly | Book of Elsa