Wren's Recipes - October

Hello you lot! Firstly, many many thanks to the lovely Jo for stepping in last month. August and the beginning of September were madly busy for us, loads of crops coming in from the allotment that required processing and we treated ourselves to a small camping break with the gorgeous Blue too.

Now, onto this month. Where does the time go folks? We're already into October, the time of Halloween, the time to put some things to bed at the allotment, and to look forward to the new season. A time of pumpkins and bonfires and generally tidying the past year away as the nights draw in and we become that little bit more introspective.

We still need feeding though don't we? Oh yes indeedy, so here are some yummy offerings using Mother Nature's bounty from this lovely time of year.

Stuffed Marrow

This is a great way to use up the last of those large marrows from the allotment.

• 1 medium marrow, cut in half lengthways and with pips removed
• 500g minced beef
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced (use more or less as you like it)
• dollop of tomato puree
• dollop of Reggae Reggae sauce
• splosh of Worcester sauce
• 1 beef stock cube, dissolved in 250 ml water or 250ml fresh stock
• ½ tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• a good handful each of chopped fresh thyme and basil or 1½ tsp dried
• about 1 dessertspoon tamarind paste (optional)
• 100-150g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Translation from Wrenish: 1 dollop is about 1 tablespoon, 1 splosh is about 2 tablespoons

Wrap the marrow halves in foil and bake in the oven, Gas mark 5/ 375°F/190°C for around an hour, until just softening.

Meanwhile, mix up that yummy mince stuffing! Gently fry off the onion and garlic until soft, add the herbs and cook for a further minute then add the mince and brown thoroughly.

Dissolve the stock cube in hot water (or use warm stock), stir in the dollops of tomato puree and Reggae Reggae sauce, the splosh of Worcester sauce, and the tamarind paste (if you're using it). Add this to the mince and herb mix, stirring thoroughly. You may need to add a little more water at this stage.

Finally season to taste, then leave to simmer gently for around half an hour, to develop the flavours and reduce. You want a fairly thick sauce for this.

Once the mince is ready and the marrow is beginning to soften, unwrap the marrow and stuff the cavity with the mince mixture. Top with grated cheese, then return to the oven until the cheese is melted and just turning a golden colour.

Serve with your choice of seasonal vegetables. We tend to have mashed potatoes, runner beans and cabbage with this.

For those of you who are vegematarians, you can replace the mince with chopped mushrooms, it works just as well.

Cornish Pasties

(makes 10-14)

So what else can we have for dinner then? Well folks, how about Cornish pasties? Once you have perfected the basic recipe you can add any seasonal vegetables you fancy. How about roasted pumpkin or roasted squash - perfect for Halloween or bonfire night treats!

For the pastry you will need:

• 300g plain flour
• 150g butter
• 150g lard
• pinch salt
• cold water

A Wren trick for you here peeps, I always use butter, not margarine, for pastry because I grate the cold butter and lard into the flour. It makes all that rubbing in much easier.

Rub the fat into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs and add the salt. Then slowly add the cold water, bit by bit, working the pastry with your hands until it becomes a nice dough. I have deliberately not put the quantity of water required, as flours vary in their capacity to soak up the water, and the last thing you want is a soggy dough! Start off with around 150 ml, but add it gently and keep your hands working the dough together; you'll feel when it's right. The dough should form a ball and come cleanly away from the bowl. Wrap your dough in plastic food wrap, or put in a bag, and place it in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.

For the filling you will need:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small swede, finely chopped
• 1 medium potato, finely chopped
• 400g beef skirt, finely sliced into strips
• seasoning to taste
• butter
• plain flour

When your dough has had a nice rest, get ready to roll! I use a 6" tea plate as a template, and cut chunks of dough off as I go so I don't end up rolling and re rolling the same piece over and over. As a rule, I never roll dough more than twice, it doesn't like it!

So, grab your chunk of dough and roll out to around 5mm thick. Using the tea plate, cut out your circle of dough. Lay half of the circle over your rolling pin, and fill the other half as much as you can with a mix of the vegetables and meat. Don't be stingy, you can pile it fairly high. Now add a knob of butter and a pinch of flour - this helps make the gravy - a pinch of salt and a good few grinds of black pepper.

Wet the edges of the pastry, fold the top down and seal the edges. You can crimp with your fingers or with a fork, it doesn't really matter as long as you have a seal.

Repeat the process as many times as you can with the dough, vegetables and meat you have.

Place the pasties on a greased and floured baking sheet, brush with a mix of beaten egg and milk, and pop in the oven at Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C for 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C and cook for a further 40 minutes. There you have them, gorgeous pasties!

This recipe will yield around 10-14 pasties, at least it does the way I do it! If you pile more mixture in, you'll end up with fewer pasties, but don't scrimp just to make more, you'll be denying yourself a real treat.

Other variations: You can use just vegetables if you like or you can add curry powder or garam masala for a curried version. You could use any fruit in season, too, adding sugar and cinnamon or mixed spice instead of the salt and pepper. The world is your oyster really.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do. They make warm hearty meals and the kitchen smells wonderful too! Just what you need as the days get shorter and we cosy up in the safety of our homes.

Whatever you may be doing, whoever you are doing it with, enjoy this lovely season.

Blessings
Wren
x

marrow photo (c) Salena Walker 2009

pasty photo (c) Jo Barlow 2009

pumpkin photo (c) Compostwoman 2009