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It’s been so bitter cold lately I haven’t really wanted to spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen with it’s single glazed back door and always-in-use catflap letting in the cold. However, I’ve wanted to make sure we had at least one good hot meal a day to keep the chill away. I’m not a huge fan of soup and I have to really be in the mood to make one but I made one yesterday using a caluiflower and some bits of stilton left over from Christmas and it was really gorgeous. I didn’t follow a recipe as such but  I used the following in roughly these measurements:

A medium sized cauliflower
About 2 ozs of Stilton
A tsp of butter
2 onions – chopped
2 medium sized potatoes – chopped
A pinch of nutmeg
About a pint and a 1/4 of veggie stock
Salt & Pepper

I fried off the onions in the butter, added in the potato, cauliflower, nutmeg and seasonings, covered with the stock and brought to the boil. Then I let the whole lot simmer for about half and hour (until the potatoes) were soft. Left it to cool, then whizzed it up with a hand held stick thing (leaving it a bit lumpy). I served it with a blob of creme fresh, a bit of dill and some crusty brown rolls. It’s gone straight onto my ‘will make this at least once a month’ list as it was so yummy

It’s been horrible weather here and as it’s my last day at home for a few days I thought I’d make a cauliflower cheese using up bits and pieces I had, so we had something filling and hot for tea. It’s not a great favourite of mine but my husband really loves it and the cats look forward to any leftover cheese sauce they can get their paws on…

I managed to pick up some cauliflower and broccoli going cheap at Tesco on Saturday so I bought two lots to freeze – I dug those out along with some different portions of cheese I’d frozen when they’d also been going cheap a few weeks before. The cheese was caramelized onion Cheddar and I mixed it through a home made white sauce to which I’d added black pepper and a pinch of mixed spice.The sauce and veg went into an ovenproof dish and then into a hot-ish oven for about 40 minutes. It came out looking all brown and bubbly like this:

Like I said, I’m not a fan but this was so lovely I ended up ending two huge portions…I’ll definitely be making it again.

I’m a big fan of veggie sausages as they are so versatile and this recipe is one of my favourites as it’s easy, filling and tastes really fantastic.

Take 6 – 8 veggie sausages (I really like the Cauldron ones) and brown in a little oil. Meanwhile, slice up 2 leeks, about 12 mushrooms and about 8 new potatoes. Add the sausages and veg to the slow cooker along with a pint and a half of veggie stock, a glug of red wine and some seasoning. Cook on a low setting for 6-7 hours.

After cooking for a few hours it’ll start to look like the above. Now for the dumplings, my favourite part Using the recipe from the back of the Atora Veggie Suet pack I made up the dumplings and then raided my spice box for lots of lovely extras……

To the flour, veg suet & salt mix I added a pinch of paprika, mixed spice, black pepper, dried sage & dried rosemary and give it a good old stir before adding the water.

This doughy mixture made about 7 medium dumplings and I popped them on top of the casserole for the last 40 minutes. Apart from about 20 minutes prep, the whole thing took no time at all and the house was filled with lovely wintery smells all day We sat down an hour ago to two huge bowlfuls with plenty left for lunch tomorrow.

As I have a rare day off I really should have cooked for the week ahead – but I opted instead to make a batch of wholemeal bread, some ‘everyday’ biscuits and the wonderfully easy but gorgeous Yorkshire Sticky Sausages (or snossidges as I can’t help but call them) for supper.

I came across this recipe, or some variation of it, in a magazine or on a website a couple of years ago – not because I liked it, but more so I had something I make a meal of veggie sausages with. I gave up meat a looooong time ago, but not because I didn’t like the taste of it. Consequently, I have no problems using meat substitutes in my cooking (except Quorn sausages which are repulsive) but I’ve never been that adventurous when it comes to using them as an actual ingredient. The first time I tried the recipe I used Linda McCartney sausages, with the recommended 3 tablespoons of marmalade and half a bottle of white wine. It was inedible but I quite liked the concept so played around with various foodstuffs until I found a combination I (and my meat eating husband) really liked.

I usually try and make enough for four servings, that way we have something to eat for lunch the next day too. I tend to make it from memory so there isn’t a precise recipe to follow but it roughly goes something like this:

Preheat the oven to 180c

2lb new or salad potatoes
8 or 10 Veggie Sausages (I used Cauldron Lincolnshire ones)
Fresh Rosemary and Thyme
Olive Oil
300ml Creme Fraiche
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp Marmalade (I prefer to use good quality finely shredded)
300ml cider (Magners is very good for this I find)

Cut the potatoes in half and the sausages into chunks and throw into a casserole dish with the fresh herbs and enough oil to coat. Cook for 40/50 mins or until potatoes are soft.

Heat a frying pan and melt the marmalade and mustard down before adding the cider slowly. Cook very gently until the sauce becomes sticky. Slowly add the creme fraiche until the sauce becomes rich and creamy. Pour over the sausage and potato mix and serve – on it’s own or with crusty bread. I’ve started to make double quantities of the sauce to save time if we fancy having this midweek.