Autumn is finishing up and winter is just around the corner. Our tastes and cravings for different foods change as the weather gets colder and days get shorter. Everyone is different but generally in winter people will turn towards soups, ragouts, meals from the slow cooker with mash potato or pasta accompanying, deserts would be puddings, apple crumbles, fruit pies with custard just to name a few. Soup is a great and most often healthy way to start a meal and can be very simple to make. For a basic pumpkin soup just do some peeled pumpkin, potatoes and onions in a pot with some vegetable or chicken stock and water, bring to the boil and simmer until cooked and then blend smooth and season to taste. You can sweeten it up with a little brown sugar or add curry powder or nutmeg to give it a further twist. Ragout is just a fancy name for casserole and is usually done with the cheaper cuts of beef, potatoes, carrots, celery and onions in a slow cooker or on the stove on a very low heat for several hours. The ragout sauce can be just made by adding some flour, tomato paste, beef stock and herbs to the meat. Otherwise you can also buy a pre prepared sauce from the supermarket which does make life very easy.
Deserts can be as simple or complex as you want to make them, but are well worth the work if you are happy to put in the extra time. Favourite accompaniments to a nice warm pudding are ice cream, custard or just plain cream.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to plan a dinner party catered by Diamond Blue in your home.