To get you in the mood for Halloween and Bonfire night local chef Theo Michaels has come up with the following great recipes...

PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE

An American (and personal childhood) favourite – Pumpkin Pie is the perfect Halloween treat and a great way to make the most of all those scary pumpkins! Especially with the added hint of maple syrup and dusting the tin with some coco power to give a lovely bitterness to offset the sweet pie filling.

Living in New Jersey pumpkin pie was a firm favourite with the kids on our block this is a simple and delicious recipe that really does make the most of all those cheap pumpkins we have at Halloween – and for the rest of the year you can use a Butternut Squash!

Ingredients:
500gms raw pumpkin flesh (or butternut squash for the other 11 months of the year!)
100gms brown soft sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
150 ml double cream
3 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
Good pinch salt
Few good grinds of black pepper
Ready made shortcrust pastry
Flour, Butter and Coco powder for dusting

Method:
Pastry:
First butter your pastry tin, then with equal quantities of coco powder and flour (mixed together) dust the tin and remove any excess dusting.

Roll out your shortcrust pastry and place in the pastry tin. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper over your pastry and add some baking balls (I use some uncooked rice which works just as well!).

Blind bake for 30 minutes at 180C.

Remove the baking sheet and weight and put back in the oven for five minutes to dry out the base. Once done remove from the oven and let cool.

Filling:
A note on pumpkins – the smaller they are the sweeter they will be. However, for me, Pumpkin Pie is about wholesome comfort food and a great way to make something delicious out of something really cheap that you’re buying anyway to stick a tealight in and sit on your windowsill – why waste all that lovely food?

So, get your regular run of the mill pumpkin and cut out the pumpkin flesh (not the skin) into similar sized cubes (1-2 inches square), drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven at 180C for around 25-30 minutes. You want a slight colour and the flesh to be soft to the touch.

Once cooled, blend the pumpkin flesh (or mash really well) and push through a course sieve to remove any stringy pieces. Then add the rest of the ingredients:

100gms brown soft sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
150 ml double cream
3 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
Good pinch salt
Few good grinds of black pepper

Give it a really good mix (it will look a lot lighter in colour than the picture – but don’t panic the pie will deepen in colour and become much richer once you’ve cooked it).

Pour the mixture into your cooked pastry base, pop in the oven at 180C for about 30-40 mins (check at 30!) it will be browned, firm with a very slight wobble.

Test by inserting a sharp knife into the pie – if it comes out clean it is cooked, if not, pop it back into the oven for five minutes.

Remove and let cool.

Goes well with scary Halloween outfits, screaming kids and fireworks in the sky (oh, and a decent dollop of clotted cream!) 

CHARRED CORN ON THE COB RECIPE

I can’t really call this a recipe, it's more of an assembly. But whenever we are having a BBQ, going camping (and especially on bonfire night) throwing some corn-on-the-cob straight on to the coals is just perfect. It feels a little prehistoric or maybe rustic, but it always feels right.

All sweetcorn needs is a little butter, salt and if you want to push the boat out a bit of ground chilli! But nothing quite tastes like the smokey sweetness of corn on the cob cooked like this. You get a lovely charred look and taste while cooking it in the husks almost steams it a little as well keeping it nice and juicy.

Ingredients:
Yup, you guessed it – sweetcorn (husks on!) 1 pp.
Butter – still in the fridge in a block
Salt
Ground Chilli – optional
 
Method:
Soak your sweetcorn in some cold water for half an hour – this will stop the husks burning too quick.

Have your bonfire, camp fire or charcoal BBQ in full swing (gas bbq would be OK, just.) and once it’s died down to the embers (or you can shift some coals away from the flames), drop your sweetcorn straight on top of the coals.
Using a pair of tongs (or a large stick depending how rustic you want to get) turn them once in a while when the husks start to blacken.

Leave your corn on the coals for about 30 minutes and then remove (or just move to the side away from the heat).

Leave them to cool for 5 minutes and a neat trick to get all the husks off really easy is to get a sharp knife and just cut the base off the sweetcorn (cheers for that tip bro!)

The husks will pretty much fall off. Grab your butter, if it’s nice and cold I just unwrap one end and wipe it up and down the sweetcorn – this is meant to be eaten with minimal faff so no need to gracefully knife some butter over the sweetcorn. Sprinkle a little salt and dive in!

Goes great with a cold beer, lots of friends and a rather smug look of satisfaction..

About Theo Michaels

Theo Michaels, new series airing this winter on Simply Good Food TV and just signed with a publisher to write his first cook book out summer 2016! Visit www.TheoCooks.com for other recipes, information on his popup restaurant or sign up to his youtube channel.