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Don’t Waste Bonfire Night

Oct

I hate fireworks – all that banging and whooshing and the compulsory “Oohing” and “Aahing”. I spend the whole time with my hands over my ears. But I absolutely love the idea of Bonfire Night. Crunching through thick piles of Autumn leaves in the frosty evening, all wrapped up in big jumpers and woolly scarves, your breath leaving dragon trails in the air.

Even better than that though, and a good deal warmer, is the food. Bonfire Night is made for earthy flavours, hearty robust stews, warming soups, and things that are mulled, baked, roasted and toasted.

Steaming soups…

There should be a law that soup consumed on Bonfire Night should be served in mugs. There’s nothing like clasping a mug of steaming broth with both hands to warm your freezing fingers. Soup is a great way to use up bits and bobs in the fridge, you can chuck in any vegetable. Pumpkins and squashes are abound at the moment, chop them into large chunks, don’t bother to peel them, sprinkle over some ground ginger and roast with onions. Once roasted remove the skin, and throw into a blender with the roasted onions and a little stock made up from a cube. Whiz it all together, season, put it back on the hob to warm through and stir through a spoonful of cream. Don’t worry about it eating it all at once, it can be frozen to eat later. If you fancy trying something a bit different, have go at making pumpkin tart.

Served with posh cheese on toast…

A great accompaniment with soup is Welsh rarebit or posh cheese on toast as my kids call it! And is ideal for using up stale bits of bread. Grate some cheese into a bowl, add a spoonful of mustard, a splash of dark ale and mix it all together. Spread thickly onto some nice chunky bread and shove it under the grill until golden brown. That’ll get you warmed up!