Autumn Days

Autumn days when the grass is jewelled
And the silk inside a chestnut shell
Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled
All these things I love so well

Autumn is a wonderful time of year, full of visual and culinary opulence. As much as I love Summer I welcome the change Autumn brings and the fresher air after long, hot, sultry days.

I look forward to wrapping up in jumpers, curling up on the sofa when it’s dark and cold outside, watching fireworks light up the sky on bonfire night, kicking the red and gold leaves and, of course, enjoying the food.

Hot jacket potatoes, casseroles slowly bubbling in the oven, sticky sausages, warming soup and comforting puddings. There is an abundance of vegetables to choose from, the cooking slows down and meals become heartier and more homely. My kitchen never seems more welcoming than at this time of year.

Lemon and Courgette Risotto

I have a cold and it was chilly and almost dark when I walked home from work so I wanted comfort food. I had risotto in my mind as I looked in the fridge and the courgettes seemed a good choice.

The sharpness of the lemon awoke my dulled tastebuds whilst the creaminess of the rice and parmesan soothed, with the courgette offering a fresh bite.

Recipe

Heat 500ml of vegetable stock and keep on a low simmer.

In a separate pan sauté one large shallot in butter until soft. Stir in 100 grams of risotto rice and coat well. Add a slosh of vermouth (about 50ml) and allow the alcohol to burn off then stir until absorbed by the rice.

Dice a courgette and add to the pan along with the zest and juice of about half a lemon. Now add the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring the rice continuously. Only add another ladleful once the rice has absorbed the previous ladleful. Keep stiring and adding the stock until the rice is al dente (which means it still has a bite to it). You may not need all of the stock.

Take off the heat and stir in a handful of grated parmesan cheese and a knob of butter, then season and serve.

Breaking Down The Casserole

I don’t have a set recipe for my basic casserole, what I put in it depends on my mood and what I have in. That’s what I love about making them; they can be very personal and adjusted to suit you, your budget, what’s in season and what’s in your fridge. I like the chopping, mixing, tasting, adding a bit of this, adding a bit of that, tasting again, the end result being different ever time.

I do however follow a particular, fairly standard method, which I’ll set out for you here.

Meat
Browning the meat first gives a really good flavour and seals in the juices. It needs to be well browned on a very high heat so that it forms a slight crust. Don’t put too much meat into the pan at once or it will just steam and not brown as you want it to. Once the meat is browned I remove it from the pan and then add the vegetables. Don’t use a clean pan – you want all the flavour from the meat!

Meat on the bone is really good for casseroles as you get all the additional flavour from the bones. I wouldn’t make a chicken casserole with chicken off the bone as there isn’t as much flavour as with other meats, such as beef.

Cheaper, less tender, cuts of meat such as shin of beef and neck of lamb work best in casseroles as they suit long, slow cooking and have a lot of flavour.

Chopped bacon can be a great addition; sautéed after the meat is browned and removed.

Flour
I don’t always add flour but it does thicken the casserole nicely. I either roll the meat in seasoned flour before browning the meat or add a tablespoon or two to the casserole before the liquid goes in.

Vegetables
My casseroles always have an onion base, often with carrot and celery. These are sautéed until soft after the meat has been browned and removed and before the liquid is added. I sometimes add crushed garlic which gives another note and depth that I find is particularly good with beef. Other vegetables that often find their way into my casseroles are shallots, leeks, parsnips, butternut squash, new potatoes and mushrooms.

Herbs and Seasoning
I find dried herbs work fine in casseroles, despite what the purists may say. In fact dried herbs seem to give a deeper note, but of course fresh are good too. I personally tend to stick to thyme, oregano or rosemary. Bay leaves are great too, but remember to remove them at the end of the cooking time!

Season when your liquids have gone in and check again at the end of the cooking time once the flavours have developed and the liquid has reduced. Be careful with salt particularly if you’ve added bacon or have a fairly salty stock.

Pulses
Pulses such as chickpeas or lentils make the casserole a full-on, hearty meal.

Liquids
Once the base vegetables are sautéed it’s time for good stock and any other liquids you want to add. I turn the heat up and deglaze the pan with alcohol or just the stock. The meat goes back in at this stage. Sometimes a tin of chopped tomatoes will go in, worcester sauce, tomato puree, beer, guiness, madeira, marsala or wine. There really is no set rule for casseroles, just go with your taste buds. Talking of which, I taste at this stage, once everything has been added to the casserole and the liquid has been brought to a boil, and I add more of this or that as I want.

Heat
Once the liquid is added bring it to the boil on the hob then put a lid on and put it in the oven to simmer slowly for a good couple of hours on a low to medium heat.

Finishing
Sometimes the liquid will need reducing before serving, to thicken it and deepen the flavour. I take the lid off and either put the dish back in the oven or on the hob on to simmer and reduce until I’m happy with the consistency and flavour. I check the seasoning at this point and adjust it if necessary.

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

Photograph Ananova

This lowly parsnip is officially Britain’s ugliest vegetable. The parsnip’s resemblance to a deep sea creature won it first prize in the National Trust’s Ugliest Vegetable In Britain competition. The competition was launched in order to ‘celebrate ugly fruit and vegetables, which taste great but are usually rejected for their looks and size’.

So, can you find it in your heart to sauté a twisted leek or roast an elongated potato? Take another look at that forked carrot. Give an ugly vegetable a chance.

National Trust Article

Roses and Rain

It’s been a drizzly day today. Rain against the windows, drops in puddles, wet pavements. I love the rain and quite like being out in it if it’s not too hard or windy, but I especially love watching and listening to it from inside.

It’s nearing the end of September so we can expect more rain and lower temperatures. The nights are already drawing in earlier and earlier and it will soon be time for central heating and comfort food.

I think I might be coming down with a cold, a sure sign of the time of year. But I’m still happy as I’m sipping wonderful Jewish penicillin (chicken broth) and Rob brought me roses and has just started running me a bath scented with my favourite rose bath oil. He knows how to put a smile on a girl’s face.

Lazy Days

Sundays really are the best take-it-easy days, aren’t they? Today has been lovely and laid back. After a lie-in then a hot shower I read the Sunday paper with my coffee in the garden in the morning sunshine. I cooked a roast dinner and baked some bread, feeling perfectly domesticated. I'm going to finish the day with a long bubble bath, cosy pyjamas and a good book. The perfect end to the weekend.

Change With The Weather

Yesterday was an unseasonably hot, balmy day with beautiful blue skies and a light breeze. London was lit up with sunlight and I had a very pleasant walk to the office in the morning. It was one of those days that makes you feel so very alive, and in love with the city. But by the evening the wind was picking up and there was change in the air. Today it rained non-stop until late afternoon, in total contrast to yesterday.

The reason for this unusual weather is that the UK has caught the tail end of hurricane Gordon. And it seems that I too was caught up in this change.

I made a rather impulsive decision today and had my long hair cut short. I’ve only ever done this once before when I was a child so we’re talking a very big change. It’s very different and I’m getting used to it but I think it really suits me and overall I’m loving it. I feel like a new woman!

In order to keep some consistency in this whirlwind and to celebrate my new look, I’m now kicking back with the music channels and a drink I started making myself this summer - Crème de Framboises (raspberry liqueur) topped up with cava. Cheers.

Easy As Apple Pie

I decided to do some baking the other day but that was as far as my thinking went, so I asked Rob what he’d like. ‘Apple pie’ was his immediate answer, which I thought was perfect given the time of year. I don’t think I’ve ever made this before so I sent him out for Bramley apples - Bramley being the quintessential apple for English apple pie - while I flicked through my recipe books.

Now there seems to be a divided camp when it comes to the filling, some cook the apples first and some don’t, which left me with somewhat of a dilemma. In the end I opted for not cooking them first in order to keep some texture. This may have been fine had I chosen a sweeter apple for my filling, or had I put more sugar in. But as it was the pie I’d lovingly made was pretty much inedible as the apples were far too sharp - they needed much, much more sugar than the 4 tablespoons I had used.

Disappointed, perplexed and somewhat embarrassed that I couldn’t even make a decent apple pie, I had another attempt the following day, determined to get it right this time. Clearly the amount of sugar needed totally depends on the type of apple used and even then they will vary in taste depending on where and when you buy them. It will also depend on personal taste - some people like very sweet pies, others prefer them more tart. So I figured you either take pot-luck with the sugar or you taste the mixture before it goes into the pie - which means cooking the apples first. I’d moved camps.

I was, however, determined not to have mush pie so I decided to compromise and cook the apples just for a few minutes to allow the sugar to coat them and of course I tasted the mixture until I was happy with it.

This time the pie was just right. I was happy, as was Rob as he poured on thick cream and delved in.

Bramley Apple Pie

Shortcrust pastry – 250g plain flour, pinch salt, 130g cold butter, chopped. Blend together until it looks like bread crumbs (I used my mixer for this) then add a little water (about 6 tablespoons) to form a dough. Chill for 30 mins in the fridge.

Core and slice about 4 Bramley apples and put into a saucepan with a little butter. Add light muscovado sugar and caster sugar to taste along with a teaspoon of cinnamon. Heat until the sugar has dissolved and the butter and sugar are coating the apples.

Divide the pastry into two, roll out one half and line your pastry dish with it. Fill with the apples and pour a little of the sugar butter on top, not too much or it will leak out, then roll out the other half of the pastry and top the pie with it.

Brush with a beaten egg and bake at 200c for 30 - 40 minutes until the pastry is golden.

Comforting Fish Pie

I played around with 3 or 4 different recipes for this pie, taking what I liked best from each. The end result is creamy, rich and deeply fulfilling.

Chop approximately 800g skinned and filleted white fish into bite sized pieces and scatter into a dish.

Sauté 3 finely chopped shallots in butter until soft. Add about 285ml double cream, a bay leaf and a splash of vermouth or white wine then bring to the boil and simmer gently for about five minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the bay leaf. Stir in the juice of half a lemon, a handful of chopped parsley and some grated hard cheese to taste. Season then pour over the fish.

Top with buttery mashed potato and bake at 200c for 30-40 minutes until golden.

Garlic Chicken and Leeks

I cooked chicken in garlic for dinner today, loosely based on a Nigel Slater recipe.

I slowly fried the chicken in butter and a little olive oil with 4 crushed garlic cloves. It took around 45 minutes to cook the chicken through and towards the end I added sliced leeks.

Whilst this was very nice I think there’s a risk of the garlic burning, due to the length of time it’s cooking in the butter and oil for, so next time I’ll add some white wine or stock.

Alchemy In The Kitchen

I adore home made chicken stock and love making it. As it simmers slowly the house is filled with its wonderful smell, making it feel happy and homely. Something wonderful begins to happen as the goodness and flavour from the chicken bones and vegetables seep into the water.

More often than not it doesn’t actually make it as stock in my house as I can’t resist having a bowlful just as it is. The soothing broth is heavenly and healing. I believe in its magic.

Chicken Stock or Broth

Remove any garlic, lemon, herbs, etc from the cavity of the chicken carcass and pull off any leftover meat, then put it into a large pot and just cover it with water.

Halve about 2 sticks of celery, 2 carrots, one large onion and one leek and add to the pot along with about 6 peppercorns, a bay leaf a handful of parsley, and a few sprigs of thyme if you have some to hand.

Bring to boil then very gently simmer on the lowest heat for about 2 hours. Remove any scum that comes to the surface during this time.

After 2 hours sieve the stock and taste it. You may need to reduce it down to concentrate the flavour, in which case pour it into another pan, bring it up to the boil and reduce it until you're happy with the taste.

You’ll get somewhere between 500ml to a litre of stock out of one chicken.

If serving as broth season with salt before serving

Scrambled Eggs and Mushrooms On Toast

Mushrooms again!

I don't often cook with mushrooms as Rob doesn't like them - they are a treat just for me. The ones I bought at the farm shop were meaty and tasty and I made the most of them this week.

This was simple, quick and very, very satisfying.

Spaghetti Bolognese and A Glass of Red Wine

Brown 500g of good quality lean beef (or even better a mixture of beef and pork) mince in a non-stick pan over a high heat until it forms a dark brown crust them remove it from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan sauté a handful of pancetta until it releases it fat, then add an onion, a stick of celery and a carrot, all finely chopped, and two crushed garlic cloves. Once the vegetables have softened and have taken on a little colour add the mince back to the pan.

Add a generous glass of red wine or even better, port (still using a wine glass full), a tin of chopped tomatoes, 1/4 litre of beef stock and a dash of Worcester sauce along with a little fresh thyme, a bay leaf, dried oregano and a good couple of tablespoons of tomato puree.

Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer gently for a couple of hours, adding more water if the sauce starts to go dry.

Season to taste and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and a glass of red wine. Serves 4

Vine Tomato Soup

One of my favourite soups is roasted garlic and tomato (the roasting deepens the tomato flavour) but when I have really good vine tomatoes I want to make the most of them with a fresh tasting soup like this one.

Sauté 2 or 3 chopped garlic cloves for a few minutes in a generous amount of good extra virgin olive oil.

Add quartered tomatoes and a little fresh thyme. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down, then blend until smooth.

Sieve the soup and season with salt. Heat through before serving.

Crispy, Crispy Crackling And Meltingly Tender Pork

We had a nice piece of pork belly for dinner tonight. Here’s what I cooked up.

Slow-Roasted Pork Belly

Try to buy a piece of pork belly with bones in for this dish, as they add to the flavour.

Score the skin or, preferably, get your butcher to do it for you. Ensure the skin is dry and sprinkle it with sea salt. Roast at about 230c (or as hot as your oven will go) for 30 minutes.

After this time remove the fat from the roasting tin and add 1/2 litre of chicken stock and 1/2 litre of water along with 1 onion, 2 leeks and 2 carrots – all roughly chopped, 1 bay leaf, some thyme, rosemary and 3 peeled garlic cloves. Make sure the liquid doesn't cover the skin - that needs to stay dry. Turn the temperature down to 150c and cook for a further 2 – 2 1/2 hours. If the cracking isn't as crispy as you would like towards the end of the cooking time, remove the juices and vegetables from the pan and set the juices aside, then turn the heat right up to crisp up the skin.

Serve with the juices from the pan, reducing them by simmering them on the hob if you prefer them a little thicker.

A Mushroom Sandwich for Lunch

I’m working at home today so I was able to cook myself something nice for lunch.

I spread some butter over the underside of a large field mushroom, lightly sprinkled some sea salt over and baked it at 200c for 10 minutes. I then sandwiched it between two slices of buttered bread.

It was very tasty, the salt really brings out the flavour of the mushroom. Try it with brie, bacon, sautéed shallots, rocket or crushed garlic.

Pick and Mix

We went to our local farm shop today for our weekly fruit and vegetables.

I tend to buy according to what I fancy or what looks tempting. There are some staples I buy regularly - potatoes, onions, garlic, for example and sometimes I'll have meals in mind that I know I need certain things for, but generally it tends to be fairly impulsive. This makes deciding what to cook a little more fun - I look in the fridge and think about what I could do with those parsnips and that pepper, the courgettes and the pears. I'll flick through my recipe books, search the web for inspiration or be led by my own ideas, past recipes or what I've eaten in restaurants.

It's all the more interesting when Rob goes without me - I wonder what will he bring back? I hang around him like an excited child as he unpacks the bags, waiting to see what I have to cook with. I like the element of surprise, it adds more interest to my cooking, gets me thinking harder and helps to build my repertoire.

Life's Too Short To Stuff An Olive

I am a big advocate of cooking good food, using fresh ingredients, from scratch. I strongly believe that cooking is a vital skill and that many of my own and younger generations are missing out on healthy, home-cooked food. I am delighted that we have so many high-profile food writers and cooks promoting home cooking and raising awareness of the importance of eating well and buying meat and produce that has come from well-raised animals. It’s fantastic that there is more interest in food than ever before and so many people are cooking great food at home.

But let’s also be real. It’s a busy world, we juggle the demands of work with running a home, we have children to raise, families and friends to see, social events, further education, hobbies, the gym..…and we still need to find time to wash and iron our clothes, vacuum, clean, shop. We don't necessarily have the time or the inclination to cook everything from scratch seven days a week. So are we failing as cooks, will we no longer be able to call ourselves ‘foodies’ if we take some short cuts, buy dessert to serve to friends, don’t make our own mayonnaise? Is there a compromise, or does it have to be all or nothing?

Well let’s not forget what it’s really about. Why are we reading the recipe books, watching the TV chefs, surfing the net and browsing the food markets? Alright, at it’s basic it’s about feeding ourselves, but more than that, for those who are really interested in food and cooking, surely it’s about enjoyment and pleasure - not hard work.

I love cooking. I enjoy simmering chicken stock for hours, kneading bread dough, slow-roasting meat, stirring risottos. But sometimes I’m tired, sometimes I want someone else to do the cooking, sometimes I’m just not in the mood. Then there are the times when I want junk. I crave takeaway pizza oozing cheese, deep fried prawn balls with barbecue sauce, a fried chicken sandwich. And you know what? That’s ok with me.

I believe it’s all about balance. Let’s not get too hung up on the perfect soufflé, growing everything in our own back gardens, slaving over every stage of the meal. Buy ready made pastry, use jars of chinese-style sauce, have a takeaway once in a while - that's perfectly alright.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great if you can and want to do everything yourself but it shouldn’t be a necessity and no one should beat themselves up about not doing that. Let’s relax and remember that it’s about enjoyment and ultimately how YOU want to cook and eat.

Nigella Lawson Hitting Our Screens Again

Nigella Lawson is working with the BBC on a Christmas cookery programme this Autumn.

Fantastic news - I can't wait and I'm pleased that Nigella is going back to what she does best. If the new show is anything like the Nigella Bites Christmas special then we're in for a festive treat.

Nigella's festive feast for BBC

My Kitchen Essentials

Tools

• My cream KitchenAid mixer- this was a real treat, an expensive one, but a long-term investment and I get a lot of use and pleasure out of it. I use it primarily for baking - whisking egg whites, beating cake mixture, mixing cheesecakes, etc



• A hand-held blender - perfect for liquidising and blending soups directly in the saucepan



• Sharp knives - I recently bought two Global knives. These come highly recommended by top chefs, including Anthony Bourdain. I have two cooks knives, a medium sized one for chopping vegetables a larger one for meat



• Wooden spoons of various sizes - I use these all the time and have an extra long one for making gravy directly in my roasting tray



• A grater



• Wooden chopping boards



• Digital weighing scales



• A colander



• A sieve - perhaps surprisingly baking is not what I have in mind for this, but straining soups, gravies and sauces



• A Pyrex measuring jug



• A potato ricer

Pots and Pans

• A good, non-stick frying pan



• A large frying pan with a lid



• A griddle pan



• A tiered steamer



• A solid, non-stick roasting tray with handles



• A large Le Creuset casserole dish - it can be used on the hob and in the oven. I couldn’t be without it in the winter



• A non-stick milk pan



• A stock pot

Store cupboard

• Stock bases: Knorr Touch of Taste Beef and chicken concentrated bouillons, Marigold swiss vegetable bouillon - this makes up a wonderful vegetable stock and is perfect in soups



• Oils: Lemon, chilli and garlic olive oils - for speed (or should that be laziness?), extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, toasted sesame oil, groundnut oil



• Balsamic vinegar



• Tins of chopped tomatoes



• Rice (risotto and long grain), various pastas including the essential spaghetti



• Maldon sea salt - it really does live up to the hype



• Peppercorns



• A few pots of Dried herbs and spices – bay leaves, thyme, oregano, Chinese 5-spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, chilli flakes



• Pure vanilla extract - forget vanilla essence, it tastes very synthetic and is nothing at all like the real thing



• Vanilla pods



• Plain and self-raising flour



• Caster sugar and vanilla sugar – just a vanilla pod kept in a jar of sugar



• A few food colourings -pink and yellow are my favourite



• Tomato puree



• Port and Marsala

Fresh Produce

• Garlic
  
  
• Onions
  
  
• Lemons
  
  
• Unsalted butter
  
  
• Celery (for stocks, soups and casseroles)
  
  
• Carrots
  
  
• Thyme
  
  
• Rosemary

Chip Shop Chips!

We were both too tired to cook tonight so we opted for battered sausage and chips from the local chip shop. Simple pleasures - holding the warm brown paper bag close to me to keep me warm as I walked home, unwrapping the paper parcels, sprinkling salt and vinegar and, of course, the eating.

Here are my top five ways to eat chips:

• The ultimate - hot, salty chips eaten straight from the paper, outside on a cold, cold winter's evening.
• Fish and chips by the sea
• Chicken and chips in a pub garden in the summer
• Chips dipped in mayonnaise
• Cheese-smothered chips

Tell me yours!

Soothing And Comforting Butternut Squash Soup

Rob is out tonight so it’s just me for dinner. I had a butternut squash in the fridge so made a thick, creamy soup with it.

I would usually roast the butternut squash but tonight I’d been to the gym, time was getting on and I was hungry so I thought I’d try it another way.

I sautéed two chopped shallots with a crushed clove of garlic for a minute or so then added the peeled, deseeded and cubed butternut squash. I cooked this for about 5 more minutes then added half a litre of vegetable stock. I brought this to the boil and let it bubble away until the squash was tender. Then I liquidised it with my trusty hand blender, seasoned well – it needs it – and finally poured a little double cream in.

I ate it with thick crusty bread. It’s a little like a vegetarian version of cream of chicken soup. Mmm…

A Simple Lunch

Heat a tin of chopped tomatoes with some vegetable stock, as little or as much as you like but enough to be able to cook some pasta in. Once simmering add some pasta shapes and cook until al dente. Season to taste. Add a large dollop of sour cream before serving.

You can vary this base recipe in lots of ways. Add herbs, dried or fresh, chilli flakes for a kick. Sauté chopped onion, bacon or garlic before adding the tomatoes and stock. Add vegetables for a more substantial meal.

Thanks to my friend Viv for the idea.

My Bookshelves

I bought 'Apples for Jam: Recipes for Life' by Tessa Kiros today, a signed copy no less! Just like her previous book, 'Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes', this is beautiful to look through and I can’t wait to lose myself in it’s pages.

My bookshelves are filled with various food books. I fear it’s becoming an addiction, I even felt a pang of guilt as I walked to the till to pay for the latest addition - a sure sign of a habit in need of curbing. I’ll be hiding them from my husband next! I just can’t help it – I love books. I love the smell of the paper, the feel of the pages as I run my hand over them, the solitary pleasure of opening a new book for the first time. And with food books combining my favourite two interests they are simply irresistible to me.

My favourite food writer is Nigella Lawson. I love the sheer unadulterated pleasure of food she conveys and I find a lot of comfort in her recipes. My favourite of her books are 'How to Eat: Pleasures and Principles of Good Food (Cookery)' and 'Nigella Bites'.

In terms of usage, Jamie Oliver’s books would have to be high up on my list. I have almost all of his books and his earlier ones, 'The Naked Chef' and 'The Return of the Naked Chef', introduced me to fresh herbs and a whole new way of cooking. His were the books I used when I first lived on my own and started cooking for myself on a daily basis.

Just a few of the other food books you’ll find on my shelves are:

• 'The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen' by Nigel Slater


• 'The River Cottage Meat Book' by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall


• 'Anthony Bourdain's "Les Halles" Cookbook: Classic Bistro Cooking' by Anthony Bourdain


• 'Roast Chicken and Other Stories (Ebury Paperback Cookery)
  ' by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham


• ‘Rick Stein's French Odyssey' by Rick Stein


• ‘Soup Kitchen
  ' by various

The Ultimate Hot Chocolate

I’ve tried a lot of hot chocolate drinks. Cadburys, Green & Black's, Galaxy, Charbonnel & Walker. They have their place but for the ultimate in luxury you can't beat the real thing.

Simply melt squares of your favourite chocolate in a pan of warm milk. Add a dash of brandy or your favourite liquor for a grown-up version. Try whipped cream and grated chocolate for decadence, cinnamon for spice, honey or vanilla sugar for nursery sweetness, or even a dash of orange flower water for scent.

Sit back and enjoy.

Autumn In A Bowl

Sausages, sweet potato mash and onion gravy, a perfect dish to welcome Autumn.

Fry sausages slowly in butter until sticky and lightly browned, then add a large sliced onion to the pan and saute until soft and golden. Turn up the heat, add a tablespoon of flour, stir and and cook for a minute or so, then add some marsala to sizzle away. Add a dried herb like oregano and a little beef stock. Leave to simmer and thicken whilst you mash some peeled, cubed and boiled sweet potato with butter.

Serve in a bowl and curl up on the sofa while the Autumn leaves dance in the wind outside.