Georgina Hayden

Feeding since 1982

Sweet like chocolate

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Like a lot of people I often need a 3pm pick me up. A caffeine hit. A sugar high. But since I made a real effort to cut out most sugars from my diet (me and the rest of the world) and cut back on the caffeine, I’ve been at a bit of a lose end. My go to option for most of the year is a hot chocolate. It ticks a lot of boxes for me – sweet, warming, delicious, easily consumable and I don’t feel too guilty (with skimmed milk, obviously). However, at the risk of sounding smug I genuinely find a lot of hot chocolates too sweet now. Cutting out a lot of sugars has been interesting, my palate has changed and foods I adored before have become less desirable and less tolerable.

My favourite hot chocolate which I will make a bee line for is Paul A Young’s, which he sells in his beautiful London shops. At around £4 for a small cup it isn’t cheap, but I think it is worth every penny. The smell that hits you when you walk into the shop is insane, and then you spot this vat of hot chocolate simmering away in the corner, with a little spice rack alongside it… Well, it’s all very ‘Chocolat’, very sensual. Interestingly the hot chocolate is dairy free, using just water instead of milk, which is said to get the most out of the chocolate. So with the days a little colder, I’m needing my fix again, and have decided to make my own.

Spiced hot chocolate
Spiced hot chocolate

PURE HOT CHOCOLATE

If you are thinking creamy milky hot chocolate, think again. This is rich, short and intense. I use Hasslacher’s 100% pure Columbian cacao for this recipe, and it is heavenly – very pure, nothing added and naturally high in antioxidants . You can order it on Amazon for only a fiver.

Serves 1

  • 15g of 100% pure cacao chocolate (2 squares from a bar of Hasslacher’s)
  • A tablespoon of agave syrup, honey or light muscovado sugar
  • a stick of cinnamon or a few cardamom pods, lightly crushed

Melt the chocolate in a small milk pan, over a low heat (as per packet instructions) being careful not to burn the chocolate and letting it melt slowly. As soon as it has melted whisk in 200ml of water with your chosen sweetener and spice. Simmer over a low heat for a few minutes until smooth and hot, but not boiling. Whisk again, taste (carefully!) and add a little more agave/ honey/ sugar if necessary and serve.

 

Hasslacher's chocolate
Hasslacher’s chocolate

Roast squash soup with coconut and pumpkin seeds

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With my fertility chat in mind, my first recipe is a squash and pumpkin seed recipe, of which I can’t take full credit. When we got back from holiday I came home to the new Ottolenghi book ‘Plenty More’, and was over the moon. I love Ottolenghi, I love his restaurants/ cafes/ books/ column, and I don’t think I have ever made a dud recipe written by the man (Jerusalem is our favourite, the fish chapter is already in tatters).

After a trip to our fabulous local greengrocers, where the produce is ridiculously beautiful and the service is rude and grumpy, I came away with a mound of autumn treats including a beast of a butternut squash. So with a little flick through my newest book I came across ‘Squash with cardamom and nigella seeds’, a delicious sounding recipe, which is packed with good stuff (if you ignore the knob of butter at the start).

So I made this for friends, and got thinking, if you omit the yoghurt this would make a wonderful base for a soup, with coconut milk and coriander… So here is a little tweak on Mr Ottolenghi’s recipe, resulting in an incredible soup for Autumn.

Roast squash soup with coconut and pumpkin seeds
Roast squash soup with coconut and pumpkin seeds

 

ROAST SQUASH SOUP WITH COCONUT AND PUMPKIN SEEDS

Serves 4 – 6

  • olive oil
  • 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
  • 2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds, plus extra for serving
  • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 large cinnamon stick
  • 1 green chilli, halved lengthways
  • 400ml vegetable stock
  • A can of low fat coconut milk
  • Half a bunch of coriander chopped
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 100g feta (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200/ 180/ Gas mark 6.

Place the onion and butternut squash in a large roasting tray, so they are spread out in one layer and add the pumpkin seeds, nigella seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli and a good pinch of salt. Drizzle with a good lug of olive oil and mix well. Pop in the oven and roast for around 30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until cooked through and golden. Transfer the tray to the hob and add the coconut milk and stock and gently bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Discard the cinnamon and chilli and stir in the chopped coriander, stalks and all. Blitz with a stick blender until you have a thick and creamy soup, adding a little extra water if needed. Then serve with the feta crumbled over the top, and a few extra pumpkin seeds.

NB: You can keep the recipe similar to the in ‘Plenty More’ by not turning this into a soup. Ottolenghi likes to serve his with greek yoghurt, or do as I did and serve with crumbled creamy feta.

Prepped squash, ready for the oven
Prepped squash, ready for the oven
Served as a starter instead, with crumbled feta
Served as a starter instead, with crumbled feta

Sesame and banana toastie

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We’ve run away for a little while, island hopping around Greece, being hermits and taking it easy. It is blissful, and quite frankly I don’t want to come home. On the plus side I feel more inspired than I have in a long time and am brimming with recipes ideas from all the beautiful food we have eaten and seen. A lot of it vegetarian and almost all incredibly wholesome.

A quick one for today then, a post dedicated to my love of tahini: sesame seed paste. It is something that has always graced our cupboards and is used heavily in Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine, and has become increasingly popular back home in the UK too. They even sell it in the mini (chain) supermarket in our building now. Straight up it is quite intense (think mouth coating, unsweetened smooth peanut butter) but this vegan, natural ingredient is an all rounder – perfect in sweets and baking, savoury dishes, smoothies, salad dressings – tahini is a winner store cupboard ingredient.

So, inspired by  our wonderful surroundings here is a quick brekkie we knocked up on our travels, something I will most definitely be making again.

Sesame and Banana Toastie

 

Sesame and banana toastie

Makes enough for 1 hungry person or 2 breakfast avoiders

  • A large chunk of Greek sesame bread (koulouri) or 2 large slices of bread
  • A large ripe banana
  • A few tablespoons of honey
  • A tablespoon of tahini
  • Pinch of ground cinnamon (we didn’t have any to hand but if we had I’d definitely have sprinkled a bit in)
  • Olive oil
  • Generous pinch of sea salt

Place your toastie machine to warm up. Alternatively you could do this in a hot griddle pan with a weight on the toastie to squish it down.

Mash the banana with the tahini and enough honey to sweeten, about a tablespoon. Open up the koulouri bread and lightly drizzle the outside with a little olive oil. Alternatively drizzle the bread with a little oil. Pile the mashed banana into the koulouri, or spread onto one of the slices of bread and top with the other (you want the oiled sides on the outside to stop it sticking to the machine or griddle).

Grill your toastie, until golden and slightly caramelised around the edges – a little of the banana and honey may have creeped out the sides. Then transfer to a plate or board and finish with another drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of sea salt.