Our weekly fruit and veg delivery from Doorstep Organics arrived today which meant we had to use up some older produce with todays dinner. We had a fair amount of cauliflower and some carrots so I decided to make a puree. I started with an idea from New Larousse Gastronomique for a carrot and parsnip puree and came up with the following:

• 200g potato
• 100g carrot
• 2 small onions
• 600g cauliflower
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 2 cups stock (I used chicken, but I think vegetable would be better)

Loosely chop all the ingredients. Melt some butter and olive oil in a pan. Saute carrott and potato, seasoning lightly. Add onion and garlic, then cauliflower. Cook for a while then partially cover with stock and vigorously simmer with the pan loosely covered (e.g. with a wok lid). When vegies are becoming soft, remove lid and continue cooking until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Puree until smooth in a blender.

I served it with some delicious organic sausages and steamed broccoli. This would be enough for at least six, or you can refrigerate and use over a few days.

Yesterday I bought some buttermilk so I could try out Lauren's Buttermilk Pancakes. I liked the sound of her recipe since it minimised the use of butter—making them, in her words, healthy...

I was short on plain flour so I used half plain and half self raising and left out the baking powder. I normally use butter in the pan to make the pancakes crispy and golden with buttery goodness, but in light of the "healthier" approach, I used olive oil spray.

The pancakes worked out great, as you can see above, and you can visit Lauren's site Coffee Muffins for this and other tasty recipies.

Here is how I made the, oh so healthy, caramelised pears to go on top:

1. Firstly start with good, in season, organic fruit. Kath and I have all our in season organic fruit and veg delivered by Doorstep Organics;
2. Peel and slice the fruit, then brown it in a little unsalted butter in a frying pan. I prefer Lurpak Danish butter, but any good butter will do;
3. When the fruit has started to brown, add some brown sugar (maybe a tablespoon for one pear). Monitor the heat and stir a little to avoid burning the sugar, but it doesn't need too much care. You can be doing it while cooking your pancakes to ensure freshly warm fruit.

And that's it!