Blog – Page 6 – The Food Wife

Savoury Leek and Squash Crumble

12th January 202526th January 2025
by thefoodwife

Serves 2

These little pots of a savoury crumble are great as the centre part of a vegetarian (or vegan) meal. I made these gluten free too so theyâ€™re good for a variety of dietary requirements.

You can serve these in individual 250ml ramekins or in a baking dish to share.

Ingredients:

Oil

1 leek, trimmed, washed and sliced

1/2 a squash, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

200ml cream (dairy or non-dairy. I used oat single-style cream)

50g cheese, grated (I used a goat cheddar) (optional) if making this vegan you could replace this with a spoonful of nutritional yeast to taste

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and Pepper

2 tbsp Breadcrumbs (gluten-free if required)

1 tbsp roasted, chopped hazelnuts

25g grated cheese (optional)

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 180c (fan). Prepare a baking tray. Toss the squash, garlic and a little oil together and spread on the baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes. Check the pieces are soft and cook for a few more minutes if needed. Remove from the oven.

Step 2: In the meantime, heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add a little oil and the leeks. Sweat down until soft. Add the cream, the Dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste and the cheese of using. Reduce the heat and stir occasionally.

Step 3: Add the cooked squash and taste to check the seasoning. Transfer into the serving dishes.

Step 4: Mix together the breadcrumbs, nuts, parsley and cheese (if using). Sprinkle over the crumble filling and put in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes and serve, with vegetables and potatoes of your liking.

Veggie Halloumi Bake

11th December 2024
by thefoodwife

Serves 2

This is a nice one pan meal to make when youâ€™re craving veggies! It also includes squeaky cheese which is always a winner.

You can mix things up with vegetables you enjoy, courgettes and aubergine would also work well.

The dressing at the end adds a bit of freshness, but if you donâ€™t fancy chopping lots of herbs you could use a spoonful of pesto loosened with some extra olive oil.

You can easily scale this up but you may need more than one baking tray.

Ingredients:

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 red onions, peeled, each cut into 8 wedges

2 peppers, deseeded, cut into 2 inch pieces

2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tomatoes, halved

200g halloumi, cubed

4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

Dried oregano

Olive oil

Red wine vinegar

Honey

Fresh herbs

Salt and Pepper

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 190c fan. Take a large baking tray and add the squash, onion, peppers, potatoes and garlic. Then drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and dried oregano. Mix with your hands and spread evenly on the tray.

Step 2: Roast for one hour, mixing half way through.

Step 3: Add the tomatoes and halloumi for the last 15 minutes.

Step 4: Meanwhile make a dressing from a glug each of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Add a teaspoon of honey and chopped fresh herbs (use flavours you enjoy; I used mint, basil and coriander).

Step 5: Remove the baking tray from the oven. Carefully remove the garlic cloves and squeeze their soft innards into the dressing. Use the back of a spoon to mush the garlic into the dressing. Drizzle this over the vegetables and halloumi and serve.

Festive Drinks

14th November 2024
by thefoodwife

As Christmas approaches, festive parties might well be on the calendar and so here are a few cocktail recipes to have up your sleeve for when itâ€™s your turn to do the entertaining.

Iâ€™ve chosen two classic alcohol-based cocktails and then a non-alcohol festive twist on a Moscow Mule to get everyone in the party spirit.

A French 75 makes the perfect welcome drink whilst the Godfather Sour is my go-to as an evening progresses. The Cranberry Mule will save any non-drinkers from missing out!

All recipes make one drink.

Big thanks to Grant Walker for being a most excellent bar man at our cocktail evening and to Anna Place for being on camera duty.

French 75

Ingredients:

30ml/1 shot gin

15ml/1/2 shot fresh lemon juice

15ml/ 1/2 shot simple sugar syrup

90ml/3 shots sparking wine

Garnish: lemon twist

Put the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a shaker with ice, and shake until chilled.

Pour in to a flute/coupe glass and top with the sparkling wine.

Garnish with a twist of lemon.

Godfather Sour

Ingredients:

1 shot/30ml whisky

1 shot/30ml Amaretto

1 shot/30ml fresh lemon juice

1/4 shot/7.5ml sugar syrup (2:1 sugar:water ratio)

1/2 shot/15ml egg white

Garnish: orange twist

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice.

Close and shake for 30 seconds, then strain into a short glass, with ice.

Garnish with an orange twist.

Cranberry Mule Mocktail

Ingredients:

45ml/ 1 1/2 shot of cranberry juice

15ml/ 1/2 shot fresh lime juice

180ml / 6 shots ginger ale

Garnish: lime slice

Fill a high ball glass half full with ice.

Add the ingredients in the order of cranberry, lime and finally ginger ale.

Garnish with a slice of lime.

Soft Sugar Thumb Cookies with a Jam Filling

9th October 2024
by thefoodwife

Makes approx 20 cookies

Easily made dairy-free, these cookies are soft, sweet and jammy! Perfect!

You want a chilled, firm dough so start making these a few hours before you need them so the dough can chill in the fridge until ready to bake. Even better, make the dough the day before for a quick bake!

We made a batch of these and they made the perfect afterschool snack for the rest of the week.

Ingredients:

170g unsalted butter (dairy-free if required)

150g granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

280g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Jam (smooth/seedless)

Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Next add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again until combined.

Step 2: Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat again until you have a smooth dough. This should not take long but you may need to scrape down the sides of the bow to incorporate everything.

Step 3: Take a large sheet of grease-proof paper and tip the dough out into the centre. Roll the dough into a thick sausage shape, about 20cm long and twist the ends tight. Store in the fridge to chill until firm.

Step 4: When ready to bake, prepare a large baking sheet with grease-proof paper and preheat the oven to 180c fan.

Step 5: Cut the chilled log into 20 pieces, and roll each into a ball, slightly smaller than a ping pong ball. Next place each onto the prepared baking sheets about 5cm apart. Use your thumb to press down into the centre of each ball. This will create a hollow (make sure itâ€™s central with a raised edge all around to avoid jam leakage!)

Step 6: Fill each indent with half a teaspoon of jam (I love using seedless raspberry jam). Bake for 12 minutes.

Step 7: Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Store in an airtight container.

Fruit and Coconut Flapjacks

9th October 2024
by thefoodwife

Makes 16 small pieces or 8 regular sized

I decided to do some baking ready for the afterschool demand for snacks. These turned out excellently. Just the right amount of chew, that hint of spice that youâ€™d notice if it wasnâ€™t there but canâ€™t quite put your finger on and then sticky sweetness from the dried fruit. The coconut adds an extra yum. I did a half and half mix of vegan butter and coconut oil, to complement the desiccated coconut.

Great for hungry kids (and adults!)

Ingredients:

165g butter/vegan butter/coconut oil (or combination of the following to make up 165g)

125g granulated sugar

60g golden syrup

Pinch of salt (leave out if butter is salted)

75g (mixed if you like) dried fruit

250g porridge oats (gluten-free if required)

50g unsweetened desiccated coconut

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Step 1: Line an 8×8 inch tin with baking parchment. Preheat your oven to 180c (fan).

Step 2: Measure the fat, sugar, syrup and salt into a small saucepan. Place on a medium-low heat and stir occasionally until the butter has melted and everything is combined when stirred. Add the dried fruit and cook on low for a few minutes until they have plumped up a little.

Step 3: Measure the oats, coconut and spices into a large bowl and carefully add the molten mixture (avoid getting this on your skin as it will burn). Stir everything together.

Step 4: Pour into your lined tin, use the back of the spoon to delicately spread the mix into all the corners and level out the mix. Donâ€™t press too hard.

Step 5: Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool completely before cutting with a sharp knife into pieces.

Store in an airtight container.