Everyone deserves
a well-earned break now and then and if you’re the type of person
who would like to combine a trip abroad with a delicious cooking experience,
this is the prize for you!
We’ve joined
with InstantWin4now to bring you the chance to win a cooking holiday of
your choice up to the value of £3,000!
Like
most busy mothers, Sian
Blunos wanted to feed her baby well,
but as a trained chef, working alongside her
Michelin-starred chef husband, she didn’t have
a lot of free time. This is one of the recipes
she has created and published in her book entitled
Cooking for Coco
- to find out more have a look at the articler
under Interesting Bites <click
here>
"Non-meat
and vegetable dishes alone can provide your
child with a varied and nutritious diet . .
. they make good use of available seasonal produce.
This winter recipe uses naturally sweet swede
and turnip, which is a great source of energy
".
Ingredients
1/2
cup pearl barley
1 ounce butter
1 tablespoon oil
6 ounces leeks, washed and chopped
3 ounces swede, peeled and chopped
3 ounces turnips, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 pint unsalted vegetable stock or water
2 ounces frozen peas
Method
In
a bowl, wash the pearl barley under cold running
water to get rid of any ‘grittiness’ from
the husks. Pour the barley into a saucepan
and cover with cold water. Bring the water
to the boil for 1 minute. Remove from the
heat and empty the water. Rinse the pearl
barley in cold water again and then strain.
This will get rid of some of the starch in
the pearl barley.
In
the meantime, melt butter and oil in a saucepan.
Add the leeks, swede and turnips and sweat
for about 2 minutes. Add the pearl barley
and tomato purée and just enough water or
unsalted vegetable stock to cover the vegetables.
Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring occasionally,
for about 50 minutes. if required. The mixture
needs to have quite a thick consistency.
Add
the peas, cover the saucepan and continue
to simmer until the pearl barley is very soft.
This should take about another 5 minutes,
but the older the pearl barley, the longer
it takes to soften.
Strain
the vegetable and pearl barley mixture over
a bowl and reserve the liquid. Blend the mixture
in a food processor, adding more of the liquid
gradually to reach the correct texture. For
older babies, just mash the mixture.
Leave
on the side to cool. Divide into portions
and serve or freeze.
Technique
Tip:
With
most of these recipes you can use a food processor
or blender to produce a puréed mixture. However,
if you are using potatoes, you should add them
as small dice just before serving. If they are
blended, the starch they contain causes them
to break down into a gluey mess.
As
your baby grows and has more teeth, you can
mash or chop the food instead. The textures
will encourage your baby to chew. You will be
the best judge of when you can start to do this.
