Weekend Herb Blogging #214 - Recap

It's the last Weekend Herb Blogging for the year so take a plate and a glass and meander around - there's a bountiful feast in this weeks recap for you to enjoy.

As usual, the entries are listed by main ingredient. If I've missed anyone or details are incorrect, either leave a comment below or send me an email and I'll fix it right up.




Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash Casserole
Katie from Eat This


You can tell that this is a great dish when it disappears before you can take a photo we'll just have to make due for now with this teasing glimpse. Boiled, mashed squash are mixed with sautéed onions, eggs, buttermilk, thyme, cheese and pecans. It's then baked with an extra sprinkling of pecans - it's a dish Katie guarantees will convert winter-squash haters.


Butternut Squash Ravioli with Pumpkin Seed Pesto Sauce
Yasmeen from Health Nut


Yasmeen uses butternut squash as a filling for these nutritious ravioli. The filling combines butternut puree, onion, garlic, hot chilli powder, parmesan and nutmeg. You'll also find a recipe for the pasta, though wonton wrappers can be substituted. To double up on squash goodness, the pesto uses toasted pumpkin seeds.


Chayote

Chayote Salad with Five-Spiced Marinated Tofu
Tigerfish at Teczcape - An escape to food


Chayote is a member of the gourd family and once you take a look at its photo you'll soon see why it also has the name "Clenched Palm". The texture is similar to Asian pear or cucumber and can be used raw or cooked. Tigerfish presents a nutritious salad of blanched chayote and carrot and five spiced marinate tofu.



Chickpea Flour

Low-Glycemic and Gluten-Free Chickpea Crisps
Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen


Using the most adorable cast iron scone pan, Kalyn whips up these za'atar dusted crisps that are both low-GI and gluten free. By the look of them, you'll have to make plenty as everyone will want some of these.


Cranberry

Cranberry (belly) Robin Biscuits
Mangocheeks from Allotment 2 Kitchen


Mangocheeks has made what must be the cutest cookies on earth and she even made her own cutter! Fresh cranberries are used to give the robin its red breast but you could also use dried.


Eggplant

Vankai Bajji/Eggplant Chutney
Sra at When My Soup Came Alive


Sra presents us with a versatile Eggplant chutney that can be used as a dip or even eaten as a main. The eggplants are first roasted until the skin chars adding a depth to its flavour.



Ginger

Ginger Chai Tea
My Experiments and Food


If you're feeling a bit under the weather, then here's something that is quick to make and should help you feel better. It's a simple infusion of boiled freshly grated ginger that is brewed with tea - milk and sugar is added to taste.


Lemon

Lemon Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles
Saveur at Taste Space


Saveur creates a lemon flavoured ganache using lemon zest and dark chocolate and shows us just how simple it is to make these decadent truffles. I can see these gracing many a Yule table.


Mixed Herbs

Fines Herbes
Graziana from Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herbs)

Graziana offers her own interpretation of Fines Herbes, a traditional Southern French mixture of soft aromatic herbs. She uses a mix of chervil, majoram, parsley, chives, lemon balm and her own dried tarragon.



Mushrooms and Chestnuts

Beef Wellington with Mushrooms and Chestnuts and Sauce au Foie gras
Dhanggit at Dhanggit's Kitchen


Dhanggit puts her own spin on Beef Wellington - here she uses a mix of mushrooms and chestnuts to cover the beef fillet, it's then rolled in parma and puff pastry and baked till golden. For a decadent finish, it's served with a sauce made with foie gras, veal stock and a touch of cream. A truly festive dish to grace any table.


Orange

Orange, Olive and Red Onion Salad
Marisa at The Creative Pot


Heading to South Africa we find Marisa and her refreshing salad of oranges, olives and onion, fragranced with cumin seeds. A perfect dish for those in warmer climes.


Parsley

Moules Marinière
Elizabeth at Blog from Our Kitchen


If you're one of these people that leave the parsley behind than head over and read about all the good things you've been missing. Your mouth must just start watering at the though of dunking perfectly crunchy baguette into a decadent bowl of Moules Marinière - mussels with a white wine, butter and parsley sauce.



Potato

Purple Potato Latkes
Soma at eCurry


Soma creates these colourful latkes using purple potatoes that are sure to catch everyones attention. Be sure to also check out Soma's Plum Applesauce that are served with the latkes.


Seaweed

Seaweed Soup with Beancurd and Mushrooms
Huan at Eat.Live.Recipes


We probably don't eat as much seaweed as we should considering all its nutritional properties so during this time of over indulgence, Huan's soothing seaweed soup might just be the remedy.


Shiso

Udon with Edaname and Almond Pesto
Anna from Morsels and Musings


Anna completes another of her food challenges by finally making this edaname and almond pesto. She blends a mix of edaname, almonds, garlic, ginger, parsley, mint and shiso and flavoures it with lemon juice, soy sauce and rice vinegar.


Button Squash Flowers

Stuffed Button Squash Flowers




I made Stuffed Button Squash flowers - filled with a mix of ricotta, goat cheese and parmesan.


Tangerine

Tangerine Brulee Cream
Cinzia from Cindystar


Happy Birthday wishes to Cinzia who shares one of the desserts she made for her celebration. As Cinzia had to make 70 of these (!), she's decorated them with tangerine slices but you could brulee the top to create Tangerine Brulee.


Tomato

Chilli Tomato Soup
Rachel from Rachel's Ramblings



It's pretty cold in the UK at the moment so Rachel's Chilli and Tomato Soup will be most welcome. Added heat comes from the addition of Bird's eye chillies and tabasco - this will surely warm you for the inside out.


Various

Christmas Gifts
Brii from Briiblog


Brii celebrates the true spirit of Christmas with a plethora of hand made gifts - from Brulè to Rumtopf to home-made tea, they are all made with love and care. A fitting finish to this festive edition.


Weekend Herb Blogging will take a two week break and start again in the new year. While we officially begin January 4th, I will be accepting posts written during the break - just email your entries to the usual address, the details can be found here.


Thanks once again to everyone who has taken part throughout the year and I look forward to seeing more of your marvellous creations in 2010. To all, my fondest wishes for the season, a safe and merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.