Pumpkin Soup

A delicious and healthy autumnal soup which, if you're carving a pumpkin for Halloween, is a great way to use the flesh. It can also be made with butternut squash and spiced up with chilli flakes ... and don't forget to toast the pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on top!

Serves 4

1kg pumpkin, peeled and chopped

1 medium leek, trimmed and sliced

400g potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 tsp dried thyme

600ml vegetable or chicken stock

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the sliced leeks and potatoes. Season generously with salt and pepper and cook over a gentle heat for about five minutes. Then add the chopped pumpkin, dried thyme and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes.

Turn the heat off and allow to cool slightly. The recipe says to whiz the soup in batches in a blender but I found it easier to 'whiz' it in the pan with a hand-held stick blender.

Check the seasoning before serving in warm bowls garnished with the toasted pumpkin seeds.

Note: I found this soup to be very thick and, once blended, decided to add another 200ml of stock. However, if you're freezing it, you can do this once it's defrosted.

Maltese bread and tomatoes

Hobz biz-zejt is a traditional snack or starter in Malta and is made with a rustic country bread, tomatoes and olive oil, topped off with all kinds of ingredients such as olives, anchovies, tuna, capers or peppers. I found this in my mother's recipe book and on looking it up, I discovered that, in English, Hobz biz-zejt means bread in oil. Hobz is a traditional Maltese bread, but as I couldn't find it here in Ireland, I have used a sour dough loaf as the recipe calls for a crusty bread.

Start with the bread, cutting a thick slice from your loaf. Halve some ripe, juicy tomatoes and rub these over the cut side of the bread so that the juices soak into the bread. Put the tomatoes to one side for now.

Pour some good olive oil into a shallow dish and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Dip the bread into it, cut side down, and remove promptly onto a board or plate.

Chop the reserved tomatoes and put onto the bread along with some black olives and capers. To garnish, top with a few basil leaves or freshly chopped mint.

Coronation Chicken

Coronation Chicken goes back to the year 1953 when 'Poulet Reine Elizabeth' was first created by Le Cordon Bleu London to be served at the Coronation Luncheon for Queen Elizabeth II. It remains a favourite today both as a hearty summer salad and a sandwich filling.

This recipe for curry mayonnaise was given to me many years ago by my great aunt Catherine and it forms the basis of how I make this dish. Coronation chicken needs cooked chicken so you can either braise some chicken fillets ahead of time or use chicken left over from your Sunday roast. Add some seedless white grapes or chopped dried apricots for texture and serve on a bed of crisp lettuce. Garnish with chopped coriander, flaked almonds or cashew nuts.

25g unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1½ tbsp medium curry powder

250ml chicken stock

1 tsp tomato puree

juice of ½ lemon

2 tbsp apricot jam

150-200ml mayonnaise

3 tbsp single cream

Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the chopped onion and cook very gently with the lid on (this will stop it browning). When it's soft, stir in the curry powder and cook for a few minutes to bring out the flavour.

Add the stock, tomato puree, lemon juice, and apricot jam and simmer for five minutes. Strain into a jug, pushing through all the liquid with a spoon, and leave until cold.

Blend the curry mixture with the mayonnaise and single cream and store in a covered jar in the fridge.

It will keep for 2-3 weeks.