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As mentioned in Day 18 of The Challenge As previously mentioned, it is plum season. We spent a couple of days making two types of plum jam and a plum and apple chutney, so we decided to use the immature chutney to marinate a couple of pork chops, which we then slow roasted over veg. Served with its veg and juices, with a cider on the side it was beautiful. Ingredients: 2 pork chops 4 carrots, sliced 3 potatoes, in chunks 2 red onions, chopped 1 apple, chopped 8 plums, chopped 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 2 tsp cooking sake 1 red chilli, chopped 4 big cabbage leaves 2 tsp black sesame seeds 1) Line a deep oven proof dish with the cabbage leaves. Add potatoes, onions and carrot to the dish, reserving 1/2 onion. Place pork chops over the top. 2) Stew plums and apples in a small amount of water. Add sake and rice wine vinegar, chilli and the remaining half onion. 3) Spoon the plum and apple over the pork. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. 4) Roast covered at 150°C for 2 hours, then uncover for the last 20 minutes. Serve with crusty bread for the juices. We were very happy with this. No tweaks! The pork was tender, the veg absorbed the flavours and juices. Extra juices are great mopped up, or save them for a risotto!

As mentioned in Day 17 of The Challenge This is one of our own creation. Born of leftover Mulligatawny soup and a love (read obsession) for soufflés which developed during our time in South Africa, this is a big favourite in our house and not done nearly as often as I would like! Light and fluffy, the mulligatawny flavours are attenuated but present. We tend to serve it on a bed of spiralised and sautéed veg, usually carrots and courgettes. This lends the meal a freshness, while also bulking it out (soufflés are basically very tasty air...). Ingredients: For the soufflé: 3/4 c mulligatawny soup (see recipe here) 2 tsp butter for the roux, 1 tbsp for the dish 2 tsp flour 3 egg yolks 8 egg whites 2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp garam masala 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp fenugreek seeds fried in 1 tsp butter Parmesan, grated, for the top - approx. 1/4 c. For the veggie beds: 3 courgettes, spiralised 2 carrots, spiralised 2 onions, spiralised 1 tbsp peanut oil 1 tsp white sesame seeds 1 tsp black sesame seeds 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 1 tsp cooking sake 1/2 tbsp pomegranate molasses 1) Make a roux by melting the butter in a saucepan and mixing in the flour. Add the mulligatawny soup, then beat in the egg yolks. 2) Beat the egg white to form stiff peaks. Mix one third of these into the mulligatawny roux, then carefully fold in the rest of the whites. 3) Butter a soufflé dish thoroughly, then mix together the spices. Coat the inside of the buttered dish with the spices. 4) Pour the soufflé batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle parmesan over the top. 5) Place this in an oven-proof dish filled with hot water (about half as high as the soufflé dish), and place the whole thing in the oven at 200°C for 35-40 minutes (if using a big dish. With individual dishes, 8-10 minutes only!) 6) Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. sauté the onion for a minute then add the carrot, sauté a couple more minutes then add the courgette. 7) Add sesame seeds, soy sauce, vinegar and sake to the pan and toss. Don't add too much as you don't want these to be soupy. Also, don't over cook them. A little bite is good. 8) Dish, and drizzle a little pomegranate molasses over the top. Remove the soufflé from the oven and spoon immediately over the veggie beds before it collapses. I personally love this. I wasn't sure how it would go when I first went off script with soufflés, and then when I went even further off by using soup for a base instead of a batter, but things turned out rather well. I encourage anyone to try their hand at soufflés! Be creative with them! Let me know if you have any suggestions, anything you want me to try, and then share the results from, or anything you tried and want to share.

Challenge update: I love a good risotto. I thoroughly enjoy the traditional ones with actual names, but I also enjoy making risotto with a variety of liquids instead of the more regular broth and wine. In this case I used the left over juices (and veg) from the cabbage dumplings and last night's plum pork. The complimented each other nicely with their fruity flavours - apricot and plum respectively. To keep it from being too sweet, I added a dash or red wine and some oregano. Some plums and walnuts to round it off, and we had an easy dinner that used up some leftovers and satisfied Sir Shouts-A-Lot enough to quieten him and make him happy. Unless anyone has made both and particularly wants, I won't include a recipe as it was specifically based on left overs, but do say if you want one, or if you want me to make one up for you including the right notes, drop me a comment or a message and I can make that happen. Including it for the challenge though, and as inspiration :) No post tomorrow as we will be out.

As mentioned in Day 16 of The Challenge I heard about this every year on New Year's Eve for years in The 90th Birthday or Dinner For One (do watch it if you have a minute, it is very entertaining), without ever knowing what it was. Then I tried it a couple of years ago and loved it and it has become a staple. It has a good mix of warm spice notes, and a good solid base. There are masses of different recipes out there for Mulligatawny Soup, which made it to Europe during the Raj and is thus a very tasty vestige of the British Empire and colonialism. I tried a number of different recipes and then tweaked to make one of my own. I hope you enjoy! Do leave comments :) Ingredients: 1/4 c butter 1 onion, chopped 1 carrot, diced 1 hot red pepper, diced half a head of garlic, minced 2 tsp ginger, minced 2 apples diced 3 tomatoes, diced 1/2 tsp of paprika (or tandoori powder - I find it adds a richer flavour note) 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp of curry powder of your choice (I used a strong Moroccan one, but have also used an orange curry powder from a market in Munich) 1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp cinnamon Black pepper to taste - I like to use a lot, but the choice is yours 1/2 c red lentils 2/3 c coconut milk 3 c of chicken broth Roasted nuts to garnish (cashews are my favourite, but otherwise walnuts are very nice too) Fresh coriander to garnish 1) Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, carrot, and pepper for a few minutes until the onion is translucent. 2) Add the garlic, ginger apples and tomatoes. Cook a further few minutes and then chuck in the spices and stir. 3) Add lentils and broth. Bring to a boil then simmer for about a half hour, until the lentils are cooked (red lentils cook quickly, so no need to soak them but you can if you want or if in doubt - over night will be super sure, but a few hours works too.) 4) Blend til about 75% of the soup is smooth, but with enough chunks remaining for texture, then add coconut milk. 5) Add toppings and serve. traditionally this would be with naan, but we've done it with tattie scones, flat bread or regular crusty bread. Any of these work. There is a reason this has become a staple for us. I hope you enjoy it too. We had no James to dish it, but I'm glad I actually looked this one up :) *Note: Don't worry about leftovers. It heats up fine, or you can make Miss Sophie's Soufflés! (Recipe coming very soon!)

Challenge update: Using leftover mulligatawny soup, we made Miss Sophie's Soufflés (see the video link in the Mulligatawny recipe) on a bed of spiralised courgette and carrot. Light but tasty. The flavours complimented each other beautifully, and it is a worthy use of left over soup (the soufflés also paved the way for custard with the leftover cake, as there were egg yolks left ;) ). It is now officially plum season, so we have somehow managed to buy about 5kgs of them in the last 3 days, which means that it is plum jam (2 different types!) and chutney season and tonight we used plum and apple stew to coat pork chops for a roast. Succulent and tender, sweet, but with a bit of a kick, this is a must try! Here is the recipe to Miss Sophie's soufflés, and here is the Plum Pork roast recipe.

As mentioned on Day 16 of The Challenge This brings back memories of visiting my German grandparents near Frankfurt. Essentially we had 4 meals a day there, the three standard ones and a fourth, Kaffeetrinken, at about 4, where there would be fresh baked cakes (yes, plural), every day. Needless to say that visits involved a bit of weight gain, but also cooking with my Oma in her kitchen, and picking fresh fruit and berries in the garden with Opa. This recipe comes with fond memories, both of times with them and since starting to make it for myself. Plus, did I mention, it's plum season?! I hope you enjoy! Ingredients: Cake: 1 1/2 c flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon 273 c butter, soft 3/4 c sugar 3 large eggs 3/4 c ground nuts (I like using almonds) 8 plums or apricots, halved and pitted Crumble topping: 1/4 c oats 1/8 c chilled butter in pieces 1/8 c light brown sugar 1/2 c nuts, chopped ( Walnuts or hazelnuts) 1) Sift dry cake ingredients. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add a little of the flour mixture, stir, and add in the rest and the ground nuts. 2) Spoon (yes, not pour, as it will be quite thick) the batter into a prepared pan. Arrange plums cut side up over the cake and press gently. 3) Mix crumble with fingers and scatter over the top of the cake. Sprinkle nuts over the top. 4) bake at 177°C for 45-50 minutes until golden and knife comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes then serve. It serves up well on its own, with cinnamon sugar, cream or heavy cream, custard, jam, or a combination of these (although that is a bit decadent!) I hope you enjoy this as much as I do and that you can create your own memories with it :)

So I have this habit of taking traditional things and doing my own take, usually the same but just with more veg, and all from scratch , no tins or boxes allowed except tomatoes or tuna. This was similar. A creamy pasta sauce, but replacing some of the cream or milk with pumpkin purée, and a dash of vinegar. Super tasty, lighter than the regular version, but smooth and velvety, bursting with flavour. We spiced it differently to normal, of course, and added veg. It would have been beautiful with bacon and parmesan too, or other veg like asparagus, courgette, aubergine etc., but was still excellent without. Ingredients: 250 g pasta 2 TBSP butter 2 TBSP flour 3/4 c milk, warm 1/2 c pumpkin purée 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar 1/4 c white cooking wine 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cloves 1 tsp cayenne 3 red onions diced half a head of garlic, minced 2 peppers, 1 red 1 yellow, diced Black pepper to taste 1 TBSP olive oil 1) Cook pasta according to instructions. 2)Make a roux with the butter, flour and milk: melt butter in a saucepan. Add flour and stir it in until it forms a uniform mass. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring after each addition to avoid lumps. Add the pumpkin purée, spices, wine and balsamic adjusting quantities to taste and consistency. Stir, pepper, set aside. 3) Heat oil in a pan. Sauté veg in the olive oil. 4) Toss pasta and veg together, pour sauce over it, and serve. Optional cheese to grate over the top. Filling and tasty, velvety but with a bit of a tang to bring all the flavours out. It is an incredibly chameleon-like meal, able to shift to fit the mood, your fridge, tastes or dietary requirements. I hope you enjoy! Note: When in doubt as to how to make flat flavours pop more, add acid not salt. Vinegar, lime or lemon juice or wine depending on what it is.

Challenge update: The two days following the pumpkin cream pasta, days 14 and 15, we were away, so they were out of Challenge days. Today for lunch we had Mulligatawny Soup with fresh Rosemary Focaccia. I love this warm-flavoured and yet fairly simple soup. We've had it with a variety of breads in the past, from roti or naan, to regular bread, tatty scones and today focaccia. The focaccia certainly worked well and did justice to the soup, not something I would spurn doing again! Then a veggie stir-fry for dinner :) Simple and satisfying, with a good crunch and taste. For dessert, we had my German Oma's Plum Kuchen with cream, which I have not made in years! Here are the recipes to the soup and the kuchen. Focaccia recipe on request.

As mentioned in Day 8 of The Challenge Savoury crêpes can have any range of fillings. Dead simple to make (if you have the right pan, which I now do! :) ), they can suit almost any taste: vegetarian or carnivorous, with cheese or spinach or mushrooms , spicy or not. With eggs or not. Very versatile and easy. We did a bunch of these with traditional fillings and then trialled something new with our last few crêpes. Ingredients: 1 1/4 c flour 2 eggs (I had used all my eggs on the soufflé the night before so instead I used 4 egg yolks - these came out beautifully!) 1 c milk 1/4 c oil Cheese, ham, spinach, mushrooms, fried eggs, cockles, tomatoes, Swiss chard.... the choice is yours! And, for our new filling per crêpe: 2 tbsp pumpkin purée 2 dates per crêpe 1 tsp lime juice 3 slices of mozzarella Black pepper 1) Mix flour, egg and milk together. 2)Oil a crêpe pan, heat slowly and pour in 2 ladles full of batter. Wait for batter to turn opaque and for bubbles to burst, then flip. 3)Add whatever filling you want and fold the crêpe in half, allowing cheese to melt. * For our new filling, spread pumpkin purée on the facing side of the crêpe. Place halved dates and mozzarella slices in them, and add lime juice and black pepper. 4) Flip again allowing the other half to cook, and serve. These worked beautifully. I wasn't sure about our new filling until I tried it, and did warn my husband that I was trialling something new and that he didn't have to join me if he didn't want to. It worked though! The traditional ones were tasty, but the new ones had an added spark. They were somewhere between savoury and sweet, or savoury with a twist of sweet. They could use a little tweaking, maybe adding some spice or some heat, but I would certainly try this again.

Challenge update: We've had a sick baby this week, so chalenge updates and recipes are a little delayed, but we also had extra help from a sister (who it has to be said did the lion's share and a spectacular job), so there has been some pretty cool food too. Day 11 we had fried chicken with home made coleslaw. Day 12, just to round off the home cooked gourmet fast food was burgers with grilled watermelon and halloumi, peach and chili sauce on sweet bread and stuffed butternuts on the side. Day 13, to lighten things a bit, and to use the rest of the pumpkin from the souffle, was pasta with veg and a pumpkin cream sauce. Here is the Pumpkin cream pasta recipe. As I have a bit of a delay, if there is any recipe you want to appear more quickly, don't hesitate to comment or send me a message! ;)