Butternut and beef chilli con carne

There was a bit of butternut left at home (when isn't there?) and I decided to try this. As a wise man once told me, "Use 2 different kinds of meat when making chilli." I decided I'd add some seasonal veg instead of extra meat. It was lovely. This is an adaptation of a couple of recipes which I have sadly misplaced. My apologies. Trust me, though: this is good.

1-2 onions
1-2 chillies (to taste)
Garlic to taste (around 4 or so)
2 red peppers
400-500 g beef mince

400-500 g butternut, in 1cm cubes

1 tbsp. chilli powder
2 tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 x 400ml tins diced tomatoes
2 x 400 ml tins beans (black or kidney), drained and rinsed
2 or 3 ripe avocados, diced (to serve)
white rice, cooked
grated cheese (cheddar or comté if possible)
sour cream
coriander

Fry the onions, chillies, garlic and red peppers for a couple of minutes until the onions start going translucent. Add the meat and brown it, add in the butternut and cook for about 30 seconds (to brown it too, I guess), then add in the spices, mix up well, and then add the tomatoes and season well before mixing it all up. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 20-30 minutes or so. Add the beans after about 10 minutes and check to see if you need to add more spice (another chilli or chilli powder, or cumin or cinnamon). When ready, serve with white rice, top with avo, coriander, cheese and sour cream, to taste. 

Enjoy.

Jamie Oliver's butternut muffins

'Tis the season for squash and other autumnal vegetables. I personally am a huge fan of butternut. It is far tastier than pumpkin in general. Still, at the moment we have a bit of a glut at home. So I made these. They were very nice.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

200 g butternut (no need to peel), cut into chunks
175 g sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
150 g flour
pinch of salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 eggs
handful of nuts (walnuts or pecans for preference)
5 tbsp olive oil
Icing:
70 g sour cream (or more)
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 vanilla pod OR 1 tsp vanilla
lemon zest
seasonal berries or something from the shop

Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Throw the butternut into a food processor and cut it up into very little bits. Once it's done, add the sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, nuts, and olive oil to the food processor with the butternut and switch it on again. Line a muffin tray with paper baking cups, then pour the mixture into the cups (each about 2/3 to 3/4 full). Shove in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. When they're done, take them out and leave them to cool for a bit. Mix the sour cream, icing sugar, vanilla and lemon zest together. When cool enough, ice the muffins (adding berries on top of some if you so wish) and leave the icing to set. Enjoy.

Butternut soup

It's miserable here, so we made a good traditional South African butternut soup yesterday. Don't use pumpkin unless you absolutely have to: this is a butternut soup, with all the fun that entails. Here's the recipe:

Should serve about 6

1.5 kg butternut (muskaatkõrvits or pähkelkõrvits in Estonian), peeled and cut into 5cm blocks
2 large onions, finely chopped
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
a chilli (or to taste), finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 litre chicken stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
250ml cream
1tsp nutmeg, ground
1tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp mustard seeds, ground
salt and pepper to taste
coriander leaves to serve

In a large pot, melt the butter, and fry the onion, garlic and chilli at medium heat until transparent. Add the spices, and stir around a bit until everything is well covered. Add the butternut, stock, and lemon juice, stir again, bring to the boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes or until the butternut is soft and ready. Puree it using a food processor or handheld mixer thingy, then add the cream and carefully heat it again. It should then be ready.

Serve with an extra dollop of cream and some coriander. And bread. And wine. And freeze the rest for winter.