Let down by Celery Soup, bonus Baked Apple & an unexpected supper

With roasted butternut squash - just in case you wondered!

You might remember that I was, last week, planning on making a Chicken Supreme.  The intention was to use (as per the recipe) a tin of Cream of Mushroom Soup to make the sauce.  What happened though, was that I picked up the tin of Cream of Celery Soup instead (in error) and had opened it before I realised my mistake.

I was committed to using the Celery soup then, as I wouldn't be able to use it the following day for lunch (I had half a stir-fry mix to use up).  I had a bit of a ponder and thought it might do.  So I put the mushrooms and garlic back in the fridge and went with chicken and sweetcorn.


Oh dear.  Well, it wasn't disgusting or unpalatable - but it was bland.  Very, very bland.  Oddly, it seemed to be quite rich as well because both hubby and I had problems getting through our chicken ration.  I'm sure we wouldn't have had those problems with the mushroom version.

So, there's two lessons learned.  One, look before you open the can and two, Cream of Celery Soup needs some help when used as a base for a sauce.

One day last week, I forget which now, we had our lunch and dinner upside down (lunch at dinner time and dinner at lunch time), which meant I missed out on my dinner (for some reason which I've also forgotten!).


Later on that evening, after sitting for a while listening to my tummy growling, hubby went out in the kitchen and rustled and clanked with packets and plates.  Eventually, this is what he turned up with :

Isn't it just lovely?  He'd tried to keep it all within the anti-inflammatory diet guidelines and did so very well with that.  From the top, we've got smoked salmon & capers on rice cakes, then a blob of taramasalata with two celery sticks with which to eat it.  A pickled gherkin, some pickled onions, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and a piece of cheese.  Gorgeous!

Something else that wasn't especially planned, was the two baked Bramley apples that I made for Son & heir's (and my) dessert recently.  Hubby doesn't like baked apple, so he abstained.

The recipe is very similar to my Rum Soaked Baked Apples, in that I drizzled rum over them before baking, but this time I filled them with sultanas and glace cherries (2 at the bottom, 3 at the top), then added the brown sugar and butter.

Half an hour in a medium oven (mine was 180deg C) and they're bursting with juice and delightfully foamy.


Somehow - goodness only knows how (hollow legs, I think!) - son & heir managed to eat his entire apple in one sitting.  Mine lasted for two and was just as good second time around as it had been the day before.


I tend to forget about baked apples, but I really should make them more often.  Son & heir loves them - and I really enjoy the smell of them baking, as well as the eating part!


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Now that's what I call a successful day's meals

Some days, I look back at the meals we've had over the course of that day and feel like I could have done so much better.

However, yesterday wasn't one of those days I'm pleased to say.

Hubby got cracking early on the bagels and before we knew it, there was a new batch of bagels all ready for consumption.  He reckons he let them get a little over-browned, but I like them like that - adds flavour!  Mind you, I'm the sort of person who likes her toast to be browned as opposed to just warm bread.

We had a new batch of free range eggs and a new packet of Asda's cheap as chips smoked salmon offcuts (88p! Can't say fairer than that), so all that just begged to be made into scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, on a bagel.  Delicious!

I had plans to make Mary Moh's Sweet Potato & Carrot soup for lunch, so once we'd got back from our trip to the library, greengrocer (where Hubby picked up two duck eggs and more plums) and charity shops, I got started.

Mary's Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup - plus Bagel

I didn't have any garlic oil, so as a substitute, I began the process by frying a sliced clove of garlic.  Somehow a small chopped red chilli crept into the mix at the same time.  Well, it seemed like a good idea!

The soup is so ridiculously easy to make and smells simply gorgeous when it's cooking.  I digressed from the recipe once more, in that I pushed the blitzed soup through a sieve - just to emphasise it's velvetiness.  Goodness, but that soup is really delicious - and to think, it's doing you good too.

So, flushed with success, I set to and made a batch of plum chutney - but more on that later.

Dinner that evening was an easy one, but a family favourite.  Sausage & Mozzarella Pasta Bake.  It's grown a little from the original, as the recipe was one of Jamie Oliver's "Food for a Fiver" for Sainsbury's.   I felt that the tomato sauce was quite weak in the original recipe, plus the emphasis was too heavily on the broccoli, so the following recipe has resulted, which is always greeted with cheers whenever the question "what's for dinner tonight, Mum?" is asked.

Sausage & Mozzarella Pasta Bake

Serves 3 hungry people, or 4 people if you're serving dessert too!  Can also be served with a green salad, although we tend not to.

Ingredients :

1 pack of 8 sausages (Cumberland preferred).
Around 300g of broccoli (depending on how much you like it)
200-300g Penne Pasta
3 balls of Mozzarella (quantity depends on how big your casserole is!)
400g tin tomatoes
A small red chilli
An onion, chopped
A clove of garlic, chopped
Half a tsp oregano
Worcester sauce
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
Half a tbsp tomato puree
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Method :

1.  Place the sausages onto a baking tray and bake at 190deg C for 25mins or so, or until they are brown.

2.  Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, with salt added.  Once boiling, add the broccoli florets and cook for 3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon, retaining the cooking water.

3.  In another large pan, or deep frying pan, begin to make the sauce by sweating the onions until they gain a golden colour and are transparent.  Then add the garlic, oregano and chilli and cook for a minute or so more.

4.  Add the tin of tomatoes and allow to heat through, adding a shake or two of Worcester Sauce, the tomato ketchup and the tomato puree.  Leave to simmer while the flavours combine, then season and taste before the broccoli is added, to heat through.

5.  Fire up the heat under the broccoli water and once boiling, add the Penne pasta.  Cook for slightly less than recommended on the packet, retaining a little bite.  Drain and add to the sauce.

6.  Slice the sausages into four and add to the sauce.  Mix to combine carefully, so as not to break up the broccoli, then decant into a casserole dish.

7.  Slice the mozzarella and lay over the top.  Bake at 190deg for around 30 minutes, or until the cheese is browned and bubbling.

Serve, to the acclamation of all.  :)