some shopping...

forgot to say that today i went to the belconnen markets and picked up a few things i'd been wanting for a while.

first stop was the Food Lovers store which smelled divine! no idea what they were cookign but everyone who was walking past was intrigued too! lol anyway, i picked up my usual sweet chilli jam, which i had just used up, and after a sample got a jar of spicy bush tomato chutney. YUM!

then to the health shop there to stock up on bulks beans and grains. i finally got some whole wheat to try using to make my bread, though it's actually very expensive compared to ready ground flour (though i just noticed it's organic) at $3.45 / kg and i couldn't find a bag bigger than 1kg. there other bulk food places in town, i just don't ever go near them! if this works in our house i will investigate further ;)

i also bought dried pinto beans (the ones they make refried beans out of - from what i've read online they're supposed to be quite hard to get in australia?), kidney beans and something else i've forgotten LOL Lara tells me that it works well to presoak and cook the beans and freeze them in portion sized packages. perfect for me as i can rarely plan ahead far enough to go through that process and hence we have about 40-50 - tins of assorted beans in teh pantry atm !!!

lastly i bought some popping corn and YAY! i've discovered (at last) a healthy snack all my kids love!!!

after that up to the deli where i spent a bit more than i should have (unintentionally) buying expensive dips and cheeses and maple syrup when all i went there for was turkish bread!! (and i needed pancetta too)

over to the F&V shop where i totally forgot to stock up on 99c bread (aaagh) and discovered they no longer have their huge rack of huge sized herb and spice packets wahhhhh where to get them from now???? i don't know of anywhere else that sells them!

then i snuck a quick coffee in the sun at beppe's before racing back to M&D's to pick up the girls (well actually i raced straight to preschool to pick up ryan as i'd lost track of time - again! ooops)

meal plan

Saturday - Moussaka (i am taking it to a pot luck dinner as well as leaving some at home for the family)
Sunday - sticky beef casserole

other nights:
chicken, vegie and either cous cous or dumpling soup
broccoli something - soup or pasta or stir fry (we have heaps in teh fridge)
corn chowder
some kind of grilled pork fillet warm salad, with potatoes or sweet potatoes and whatever else i can buy

Veg & meat shopping list:
onions
carrots
potatoes
lemon thyme
spinach
garlic
eggplant
zucchinis
mushrooms
basil

1kg gravy beef
chicken breasts

we are still sick ("just" colds this time!) but i haven't been motivated or inspired to do much good cooking yet again. a lot of the organic express order from last week just went into the compost tonight :(

anyway, i have decided a meal plan of easy meals is called for. it's hard balancing the fact you obviously need healthier food when you're unwell but it's harder to actually DO it.

at least last night we had a good (delicious) meal - mum cooked! we always have a family meal to celebrate birthdays and last night's was a roast chicken dinner with a ton of vegies - mmmmm

tonight was quick and simple (otherwise it would have been a choice between takeaway or baked beans on toast for the second time in a week LOL)

spaghetti aglio, olio and - not pepperoncini (the traditional) - parmigiana
spaghetti, we use one packet
olive oil, ummm maybe 1/4 cup?
garlic, finely chopped - i used about 12-15 small cloves, you do need quite a bit though as it provides most of the flavour!
parmesan, grated / shaved / chopped whatever, maybe about 1/3 cup *
parsley, finely chopped, optional

cook spaghetti, drain
heat oil over lowish heat while you chop garlic
gently cook garlic until translucent (you do not want to brown it! if you were using chilli you'd cook it now too)
mix all ingredients and serve :)

* if you want the chilli (it's really really good!) just leave out the parmesan, finely chop one small red chilli and add with the garlic, don't breathe the fumes!!!

to follow we are having homemade (thermomix-made) chocolate custard :)

"comfort food" recipes from New Idea magazine

all 3 use the same basic principles for making, will convert to slow cooker soon.

beef, bean and bacon casserole
olive oil
1kg diced chuck steak
1 clove garlic
1 onion, chopped
6 bacon rashers, diced
150g tomato paste
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
1 tab chopped fresh thyme
500g chat potatoes, quartered
420g red kidney beans, drained
steamed silverbeet to serve

sticky beef casserole
olive oil
1kg diced gravy beef
1 clove garlic
1 onion, cut into wedges
1 tab brown sugar
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup sweet orange marmalade
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
2 tab cornflour
2 tab water
1 long red chilli, finely sliced
200g sugar snap peas
basmati rice to serve

rolled beef brisket
olive oil
1kg rolled beef brisket
100g sliced pancetta, chopped
2 clove garlic
1 stick celery, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
400g pickling onion, peeled
1 tspn mixed herbs
200g cup mushies, quartered
1 cups (250ml) beef stock
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tab cornflour
2 tab water
mashed potato to serve

Method
heat oil, brown meat - in batches for diced meat
fry onion / garlic / bacon (plus pnacetta + carrot + celery)
add sauces, stock (plus mushrooms), etc bring to boil, replace beef and cover
cook in 160-180 oven for 1 1/4, 2, 3 hours
transfer to stovetop and add cornflour and water (and potatoes), cook til thickened
add extra veg and cook
serve

Links - Curries & Casseroles

braised chicken with lemon & olives

Butter Paneer Masala

Chicken braised in white wine

Coconut Chicken Masala

thanks to I think I have a recipe for that
sausage and bean casserole

Calzone cuisine!

dinner tonight was a success - woohoo!! homemade calzones and everyone got to pick what they had on them - i made it VERY clear they weren't pizzas (remember my kids won't eat pizza) and they loved them ;p they also helped prepare and make them.

dough:
1-2 quantities of your favourite pizza dough (i used the thermomix one of course ;))
i put some italian herbs in it

when it's risen enough split into balls and roll out. you're going to fold them in half so put your toppings in the centre of one half of the circle.
fold the other half over and squeeze the edges together. cut some holes/vents in the top (or first initials like we did hehe)
bake in a 220'c oven for around 10-15 mins until cooked.

toppings:
you can use whatever you like! i was imagining a satay chicken, rocket and sweet potato version - yum! here is what we had:
bacon and onion lightly fried
pepperoni shredded
capsicum diced
fetta cheese crumbled
mozzarella cheese
diced roma tomatoes (fresh not tinned)
sliced mushrooms
parmesan cheese
rocket
pasta sauce
sliced black olives

A challenge for you all!!!

take some photo/s of your pantry / food cupboards and share all your deep dark secrets... are you frugal or a hoarder? are you organised or free-spirited?

post your photos wherever you can (blog, flickr, photobucket etc) and comment here with your link :)

if you go to my flickr i've labelled them all lol
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brazen20au/2605795775/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brazen20au/2605799691/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brazen20au/2606619294/in/photostream/


next challenge.... your recipe book collection ;)

Thermomix report

geoff made several recipes from the thermomix book over the weekend so i thought i'd report in on them.

last night was the beef stroganoff
it was DIVINE. so so so good! only problem was that i asked him to halve the cayenne pepper for ryan and it was still hot for the rest of us! ryan couldn't even get near it.
PS: doesn't stroganoff have paprika not cayenne?

the night before potato rosti
i didn't actaully get to try these as i went out for dinner, but they didn't go down very well. geoff was a bit ho hum about them and the kids refused to touch them (even though they helped make them). they came out like pancakes and my understanding of potato rosti was that they were made purely from grated potato with maybe an egg in them...

Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole

1kg diced chicken breasts
1 tin crushed tomatoes
1 onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sherry
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)

Mix together all ingredients (except chicken).
Put chicken in slow cooker, then cover with sauce.
Cook on slow/low for 8 hours, or high for 6 hours.

this was originally one from the EB slow cooker book so i'm not sure who to give credit to! the version above is geoff's version which he made today, with a change to the quantity of chicken as 500g wasn't enough either for the sauce or for the family (let alone leftovers!)

i think it would also be nice with some sour cream mixed through.

Zucchini and Banana Muffins

well, these were a bit of a disaster, but totally my own fault :(

do NOT be lazy and do your muffins in the thermomix!!! the zucchinis were chopped too fine so you couldn't see them, and the muffins are way overmixed (my pet hate, so many people just don't understand that you don't combine a muffin mix til well mixed, you do it til barely mixed, and here i am going even further! ack!)

not to mention my stupid oven that overcooked them, i had it on 160-170' and only in there for 20 mins and they are overcooked!

anyway here is the recipe i used , i will write up my version after lunch - we are about to pack our hot muffins in a container and head out for a morning tea playdate :D (*waving hello to my stalker laurel lol*)

not much going on in this house lately...

i'm still not feeling great (still coughing heaps morning and night, and feeling so tired and run down) and rory is sick too. so not in the mood to cook.

on tuesday i did make cupcakes - just a plain buttercake recipe for the kids but i juiced some very old locally grown lemons and put the juice in with poppyseeds to do some for myself and ryan (he refused to eat them with seeds in them lol) they were sooooo tangy and divinely delicious! they didn't stay fresh for long though.


this week i didn't have the energy for a choku bai jo shop so i did an organic express shop instead. i was convinced not only by not having to leave the house LOL but also by the availability of sugar snap peas, which the whole family adores! they're actually out of season so choku bai jo doesn't have them anymore :( (or corn which is the other favourite of everyone else in the house)

Pasta with Pesto and Pumpkin

OK, i hesitated in posting this because the food snob in me thinks it's not really a recipe LOL but then i decided if someone else could get some joy out of it (and it was REALLY yummy! we had guests for dinner and everyone went back for seconds and g had thirds) i would...

500g spiral pasta
1 red onion, finely diced
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
6 shortcut bacon pieces (or 2-3 rashers), diced into 1cm dice
pumpkin, diced into 1cm dice
small amount pine nuts, lightly toasted (i just toast in the microwave, doing 20-30 seconds at a time and stirring in between)
1 jar Barilla Pesto alla Genovese (you can buy this in any supermarket, it is my favourite by far)
white wine splash, optional (i wanted to use this but given i was cooking for friends and their children i wasn't sure how they'd feel about their kids having wine in their pasta! as it was the kids all ate the spag bol and rory was the only one to try this pasta)

1. cook pasta according to packet directions
2. fry onion, garlic and bacon over a medium heat for up to 5 minutes. add pumpkin and cook until just tender but not starting to fall apart. (if you were using wine you'd add it half way through the pumpkin cooking process)
3. mix pumpkin mix, pine nuts and desired amount of pesto through the pasta, serve with parmesan cheese if desired

baked beans, slow cooker style

just for melissa ;)

http://members.essentialbaby.com.au/index.php?showtopic=186699&hl=

Chicken Cacciatore

briefly so i don't forget what was in it (no quantities)

chicken
toss in flour, S&P
fry with onion & garlic
finely chopped carrot and zucchini (and larger diced capsicum which i forgot today)
white wine
stock
passata
diced tomatoes
olives - green and / or black
rosemary
bay leaves

slow cooker high 5-6 hours or low for longer
serve with chopped parsley and pasta (spirals)

*sigh* please turn head for the picture lol

Easy Melt N Mix Brownies

needed something quick and easy to "take a plate" last night to the trivia night, plus some for gifts, so gave this recipe a try - definitely a keeper! made one batch with pecans and one batch with white chocolate chips.

thanks Lynnie!

250g butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

Melt butter in a saucepan large enough to mix all ingredients. Mix in cocoa. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs and beat well using a wooden spoon. Sift flour and baking powder into mixture. Add vanilla essence and mix to combine. Pour into a greased 20 x 30 cm sponge roll tin. Bake at 180 C for 25 - 30 minutes or until brownie springs back when lightly touched. Cut into bars while still warm. Ice with chocolate icing if desired.

Variation: Mocha Pecan Brownie
Add 2 tablespoons instant coffee powder to mixture with cocoa. Mix 1/2 cup chopped pecans into brownie with flour.

huh?

i don't even know where the past week went. i can tell you i am still recovering from being sick (and very over it) and that we didn't eat anything of any interest, it was low effort all the way!

on wednesday i did a superquick menu plan and a choku bai jo shop on the way home - and then promptly lost the damn menu plan!! because it was such a super quick one i have NOOOO idea what was on it! not only that but i have no idea what i bought so i know what to start with to come up with another!

i do know that tonights' dinner is to be a tofu and vegie soup - i think i might get some rice noodles for it too (the fat flat fresh ones)

thursday night we ate black beans for the first time (the dried type not the chinese type). it was my first time cooking from dried beans and i stuffed it up basically by putting too much liquid in teh slow cooker to cook them, thinking they'd need heaps to absorb. so dinner went from black bean tacos to chilli and rice with quesadillas. it was a bit bland but that's not to do with the beans but more to do with the fact i've run out of my taco spice mix and need to whip up a new batch.

this weekend i'm also going to make a slow cooker chicken cacciatore and some beef mince pies - friends' little girl is back in hospital for the second time this week (at least this time is canberra, the first was sydney) and another friend is organising a meal drive for them.

i did a homeshop this week too and am SO annoyed about it - i do a homeshop (woolies home delivery) every month or two or three, and i order the stuff that i want in bulk, so someone else carries and delivers for me, i also order in bulk any good specials. well this month they were out of stock on sooo much stuff, particularly stuff that i NEED, that today we're going to have to sgo shopping to get it all!!! FFS if i was going to have to go shopping i could have just done that and saved my goddamn $12.50 frickering delivery fee!!!! aaaaagh!!!

sigh

and today's child-friendly cooking effort...

decorating arrowroot biccies lol

high tech stuff!

ingredients:
arrowroot biccies (we use aldi brand ;))
icing sugar, maybe 2-3 cups
tiny amount butter (like 1/2 tspn)
small amount boilling water
pink or red food colouring - one drop
anything to make the faces - we used the leftover writing gel and purple, blue and green sprinkles

get teh kids to sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. i covered the bench with the tupperware pastry sheet in a failed attempt not to make too much mess lol

put your tiny bit of butter in and add enough hot water, a bit at a time, to mix it into a thick yet spreadable consistency. don't stress if you need to add more icing sugar (i always do!) add the food colouring to make 'skin' colour and mix well

spread the icing thickly on the biccies (yes this is guaranteed sugar high waiting to happen)

show the kids how to make the faces or do it for those too little to make their own (in our house 2 was too little and 3.5 and just turned 5 is big enough ;))

use the sprinkles as hair

let set for minimum 1/2 hour but if possible more like 2-3 hours before serving

great cheap and fun party food - i think we're going to do these for emelia's birthday party in september. you could even have guests make their own at the start of a party.

Mussamun curry, thermomix style

ok, so this went down VERY well with the family, but i wasn't impressed. i will probably do it again, because it went down well, and the thermomix does make it easy to do, but i prefer it done in the slow cooker to be honest.

i kind of followed one of the curry recipes in the thermomix book to make it.

1 large onion
lots of garlic (especially if you're sick like me, i think i used about 8 small ones)

* chop finely on speed 7, probably just around 5 seconds

Valcom Mussamun Paste, around 4 tabs or more if you aren't cooking for mr wimpy tongue ;p

* add paste and cook 90 secs on varoma speed 1

1 tin reduced fat coconut milk

* cook 90 secs on varoma speed 1

around 400-500g of beef or other meat (i used scotch fillet as that's all i had)
2 large potatoes, diced into 1 cm pieces
1/2 - 1 sweet potato, diced into 1 cm pieces (if you need more in your thermo, i definitely didn't have enough)
vegetable or beef stock, enough to top up the liquid to just below the level of the meat and veg

* cook for 16-20 minutes, temp 100' (please do not forget the temp, i guarantee it does not cook without it *sigh* hey, i'm sick right???!!!) and reverse speed 1 (i know the book says soft but mine was really struggling on soft)

* serve on jasmine rice. top with some chopped coriander if you have any (which i didn't)

* sit back in amazement when mr wimpy tongue eats seconds and then all his sisters' (plural) leftovers :-0

Impossible Green Bean Pie

Serves 8

This is soooo much better than it sounds
(originally a WW recipe at 2 points per serve)


250g green beans, topped & tailed & cut into 2-3 cm pieces
100g mushrooms, sliced
50g onion, chopped
1 tspn garlic, minced
125g Cheddar Cheese, reduced fat
375ml milk (skim)
80g Defiance brand Scone & Damper mix
3 eggs
salt & pepper



1. Heat oven to 220c. Spray a 22cm pie plate with cooking spray.

2. cook beans in microwave with small amount of water for 5 minutes, drain.

3. mix beans, mushrooms, onion, garlic and cheese into pie plate.

4. beat remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into pie plate.

5. bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until knife inserted between centre and edge comes out clean.

6. cool 5 minutes before cutting into 8 serving slices. Serve with tossed salad and hearty bread.

note: i haven't seen the damper mix in years. i think you could just sub with SR flour perhaps?

Tiramisu, low fat

this one came from a magazine years ago, i forget which one though

Tiramisu
Serves 6

300g French Vanilla Light Fruche (fromage frais)
200g fresh low fat ricotta
1 egg
2 tbs caster sugar
250 mls boiling water
3 tsp instant coffee granules
80 mls (1/3 cup) marsala
1 200g packet sponge fingers (Savoiardi)
2 tsp cocoa powder, to dust

Place the Fruche, ricotta, egg and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and use electric beaters to whisk for 1 – 2 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Combine the water and the coffee then marsala in a jug. Pour ½ into a small bowl. Dip 1 sponge finger at a time into the bowl of coffee mixture, then place in a single layer to cover the base of a 19 x 25cm, 2 litre (8 cup) serving dish. Brush any coffee mixture remaining in the bowl over the layer of sponge fingers. Refill bowl with the remaining coffee mixture.

Spread half the Fruche mixture evenly over the layer of sponge fingers. Repeat to make one more layer with the remaining sponge fingers and coffee mixture, then top with the remaining Fruche mixture. Smooth the surface with the back of a large metal spoon.

Dust evenly with the cocoa powder. Cover and place in fridge for at least 4 hours for the flavours to develop and sponge fingers to soften before serving.

Nutritional information per serve:
10g protein, 6.5g fat, 41g carbohydrate, 0g dietary fibre, 1155kj (275cals).
Traditional tiramisu, per serve:
10g protein, 56g fat, 68g carbohydrate, 0g dietary fibre, 3450kj (825 cals).

Spinach & Ricotta Lasagne and Lisa's Cobb Dip

I haven't been posting much because :
i think my last cookathon put me off cookign for a while lol
i have been quite run down and lacking energy
and then got sick :(

so anyway, i was inspired by a thread on eb to post these recipes and might post some others i haven't shared yet...

Spinach & Ricotta Lasagne

Serves 6 - 8

An easy and healthy lasagne recipe. (based on the canneloni recipe which i am too lazy to make lol)

all approximate!
500g low fat ricotta
250g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
300-400g diced pumpkin (I used jap), lightly steamed til just tender, OPTIONAL
1/2 cup grated lowfat cheese - mozzarella or tasty
nutmeg to taste (a pinch to a teaspoon)
salt & pepper to taste
chopped garlic - 1 or 2 cloves

two tins or 800g tomatoes - the ones with italian herbs are great
dried italian herbs if needed
a splash (1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon) olive oil

instant lasagne noodles
1/2 cup extra grated cheese - mozzarella / tasty / parmesan or mixture


1. combine the ricotta, spinach, pumpkin, cheese, nutmeg, S&P, and garlic in a bowl.

2. combine the tomatoes and oil in a pot, turn onto medium heat and partially cover so the steam can get out but it doesn't spit everywhere. let it bubble gently until it thickens a bit.

3. put a little of the tomato liquid on the bottom of a lasagne dish (or large flat dish). cover with a layer of lasagne noodles.

4. spread half the ricotta mix over the noodles, then cover with half the tomato mix, and another layer of lasagne noodles. repeat with ricotta and tomatoes, and top with extra cheese.

5. cook at 180'c for 45 minutes, until the noodles are soft.


Lisa’s Cobb Dip

Cobb loaf
1 packet frozen spinach
½ packet Philadelphia cream cheese
½ container sour cream
1 packet Continental Dutch Curry & Rice soup mix
¼ jar fruit chutney (or to taste)
Parsley or dill chopped, optional

> Mix all ingredients other than cobb loaf.

> Cut top off cobb loaf. Hollow out cobb, keeping pieces. Brown pieces in oven.

> Place dip into hollowed cobb. Sprinkle with parsley or dill. Cover with top of loaf.

> Serve with browned bread pieces, corn chips, broccoli and carrot pieces.

note: i rarely have teh soup mix in my cupboard, i generally throw in a bit of chicken stock and curry powder and you can't tell the difference :)

and still more...

yes i had a very busy afternoon.

reduced fat and healthier sausage rolls (i dont' think they can ever be really low fat lol)

i made a HUGE batch of meat mix, so will halve it here, but it will still make a lot, just put them in your freezer and warm through when needed :)

4 sheets reduced fat puff pastry

250g pork and veal mince
350g premium beef mince
oatmeal, maybe about 1 cup
mixed or italian herbs, or any fresh herbs finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped or grated
1 zucchini finely chopped or grated
1 large onion finely chopped or grated
1 egg

mix very very well until the meat starts to get a bit lighter in colour (i did mine in my thermomix but pre-thermo days i did it by taking handfuls and squeezing them through my fingers)

take handfuls and form into a sausage on a sheet of puff pastry - you want it to be around 1.5-2" high. roll pastry up and gently cut through into 6-8 pieces. stab the top of each roll a few times

put on baking tray lined with baking paper. if you aren't lazy like me brush the tops with milk or beaten egg.

bake at around 200' until golden brown and meat cooked through (this will take longer if they are thicker)

serve with tomato sauce

and the rest....

i also made sausage rolls and the choc muffins for the kids.

ohhh i've just discovered i hadn't yet posted the choc muffins recipe so will post that first...

based on the recipe here http://members.essentialbaby.com.au/index.php?s=&showtopic=539220&view=findpost&p=7279922

Chocolate Brownie Muffins (low fat, thermomix)
1.5 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup cocoa
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup yoghurt
3/4 cup apple sauce
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla


Put dry stuff in thermo and mix on 4 for about 5 seconds to 'sift'.

Add sugar, yoghurt, eggs, vanilla and apple sauce and mix on reverse 4 until just mixed.

Spoon into mini muffin trays or cupcake cases and bake at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes

Honey-Roasted Parsnip Soup

this one IS fully made and YUM!

it is a fair amount of work for the small amount of soup you get, i have to be honest, but if you like parsnips you'll LOVE this. I think next time i'll use maple syrup (ack, i forgot to buy more!) instead of honey.

from here http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/honeyroastedparsnips_5334.shtml

Ingredients
25g/1oz unsalted butter
500g/1lb 2oz parsnips, roughly chopped
½ onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 small clove of garlic, roughly chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves
1 small bay leaf
1 tbsp clear honey
1l/1¾pt chicken or vegetable stock
6tbsp dry cider
4tbsp double cream

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas7. Heat the butter in an ovenproof casserole dish, add the parsnips and roast in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes, then mix in the herbs and honey. Cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables have caramelized.
2. Now remove the dish from the oven, add the stock and bring it to the boil on top of the stove. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cider then pour the soup into a blender and purée until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer, bring back to the boil, then remove from the heat, swirl in the cream and serve.

ohhh forgot to say - next time i'll add the carrots in with the parsnips at the start - i ended up with falling apart parsnips and only just cooked carrots.

Roast Pumpkin Soup

Ok, i haven't even made this yet (other than cookign the pumpkin) and already it's my favourite pumpkin soup ever LMAO!!!

i HATE cutting pumpkin and with this recipe all you do is cut it in half and bake it, then simmer and blend ;) perfect!!

from http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/Roast-pumpkin-soup

• 1.5 kilo butternut or Queensland blue (my pumpkin was 6kg before cutting and cleaning LOL)
  
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 8 unpeeled garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 litres chicken stock
• 150g of butter

Preheat the oven to 190C. Split a 1.5 kilo butternut or Queensland blue into two, scraping out seeds and pith. Oil the cut sides with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the halves, cut side down, on a baking sheet with a sprig of thyme and 4 unpeeled garlic cloves tucked into each cavity. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and cool a little. Peel or scoop out the flesh and put it in a soup pot along with the roast garlic, squeezed from its skin. Mash together with a fork or whisk, add 1 1/2 litres chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Check the seasoning, whisk in 150g of butter and serve.

Makes enough for 4.