Food Lust People Love

Sunday, September 27, 2026

Hubble Bubble Pumpkin Rice Pot

Perfect for a chilly fall evening, the wonderful flavor of this hubble bubble pumpkin rice pot is enhanced by smoked bacon, and cooked entirely in a microwave. Super easy and pretty quick to the table on a busy night.

Even way back in the late 1970s, when my stepfather succumbed to our repeated entreaties and finally bought a microwave, we honestly really only ever used it to reheat leftovers. And I must confess that pattern has generally continued all these years.

Rare is the dish I actually cook in a microwave. This is one of those exceptions. It’s an oldie but a goodie adapted from one on the BBC Good Food website, first published there in January of 2008. It’s a handy one to have in your back pocket for Halloween night.

Hubble Bubble Pumpkin Rice Pot

Know that if you have a little more or less pumpkin or squash, it’ll be fine. Below is the weight I used, pictured on the cutting board for reference. Ditto, the onion. I use already cooked smoked bacon crumbles. If you need to fry and crumble bacon first, you’ll need about 12 normal slices. Is it a lot of bacon? Nope, it is the perfect amount. Bacon is life, people. Live a little. This recipe serves four.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, about 6 1/3 oz or 180g

1 cup or 100g smoked bacon crumbles

550g or 1 lb 3.4 oz pumpkin or butternut squash, weight: peeled and cored

Freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne pepper, optional

2 tablespoons butter

1 ½ chicken stock cubes

1 cup or 200g long grain rice

¼- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, depending on your taste

Vegetarian option: Instead of the bacon, add some grated hard cheese at the end of cooking time, just before the last five minute rest. Parmesan would be good or even a smoked cheddar or provolone.

Method

Remove the seeds from your pumpkin or butternut squash. Peel it and cut it into small chunks.

Peel and finely chop the onion.

Combine the onion, bacon crumbles and pumpkin together in a large microwaveable bowl. Add a few generous grinds of black pepper and, if desired, a good sprinkle of cayenne.

Mix well then dot the butter on top and cover the bowl with cling film or a plate.

Pierce the cling film a couple of times with a pointy knife, if using, and microwave on High for 6 minutes until everything’s hot and starting to cook.

While the vegetables are cooking, bring a kettle or pot of water to the boil and make 3 cups or 700ml stock using the chicken cubes. Carefully remove the hot bowl from the microwave and uncover one corner to allow the hot steam to escape without burning yourself. Remove the cover entirely.

Add in the rice and season with salt. We try to watch our sodium intake and since the stock cube has so much already, I only put a ¼ teaspoon in my dish. If you like things saltier, by all means, add more.

Stir well to thoroughly mix everything together. Pour in the stock.

Make sure to push any rice grains under the surface of the stock so they’ll cook well in the liquid.

Cover the bowl with a fresh piece of cling film (don’t forget to pierce it two or three times) or the same plate and microwave on High for 10 minutes. Uncover carefully!

Give it a stir. Then microwave for 5-7 minutes or until the rice is cooked. (Mine only took 5 minutes.)

Leave to stand, covered with a plate, for 5 minutes before giving everything a final stir.

Scoop straight into bowls to serve. Or, heck, put it in a pretty covered dish.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are all about recipes with rice! White, brown, black, wild, flat rice, puffed rice or rice flour. Sweet OR savory. Many thanks to our host, Mayuri of Mayuri's Jikoni. Check out the links below.

Arroz de Pato by Culinary Cam
Bhuga Chawal by Mayuri's Jikoni
Cheesy Rice by Amy's Cooking Adventures
Crab Sushi Bowl by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Crispy Rice Cereal Brittle by A Messy Kitchen
Fried Rice with Crab and Peas by Karen's Kitchen Stories
Hubble Bubble Pumpkin Rice Pot by Food Lust People Love
Varicha Bhat by Sneha's Recipe

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Sunday, September 20, 2026

Extra Banana Banana Bread

Chock full of ripe bananas, this extra banana banana bread is now my go-to recipe when bananas need using up. It’s an absolute favorite at our house! It's perfect for breakfast or snack time and goes delightfully with a cup of tea.

For most of this summer, we’ve been camping out upstairs in our own house, cooking in a makeshift kitchen in one of the spare bedrooms, because our contractor was building us a fabulous addition.

After quite a few delays – isn’t that always the way? – the handover took place in mid-August and I was finally able to use my gorgeous new kitchen with brand new appliances, including a dual fuel stove and even a second oven! Heaven.

But before that, in the makeshift kitchen, I had some very ripe bananas languishing in the fruit bowl. In an effort to get a break from the construction, we were taking off for a week away. Since I simply cannot bear wasting food if I can help it, I baked this wonderful extra banana banana bread in my Ninja Flip using a 9-in round cake pan. I left it with a note for the worker bees before we headed out.

I got back to rave reviews! They LOVED it! Well, you know I had to bake it again in the new kitchen. But this time, my big oven had room for an actual bread pan, which was probably more exciting to me than it should be, because I’m sad that way. Maybe you can relate.

I named this extra banana banana bread because it contains DOUBLE the amount of bananas in my usual recipe and it uses extra ripe bananas, the ones that are WELL past their best. Also half the sugar. You don't need it because the ripe bananas are so sweet.

Extra Banana Banana Bread

Whatever pan you bake this in – normal loaf pan or 9 in round cake pan – I promise, it’s great. Moist, flavorful and lovely. I give the weights of my mashed bananas below but this is a very forgiving recipe. A little more or less will not make a difference. The first, the cake pan one, had a little more banana by weight.

Ingredients

4 extremely ripe bananas, mashed – my almost 2 cups full weighed 9 1/2 oz or 270g

1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup or 100g sugar

1 1/2 cups or 188g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line your chosen baking pan with baking parchment.

Peel then mash the bananas with a fork in a mixing bowl.

Add in the oil, eggs and vanilla then whisk till incorporated.

Add in the sugar and whisk again.

In separate bowl, measure out flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine. (I also sift my baking soda into the bowl, because in a humid climate, it can get a bit lumpy.)

Add the flour mixture all at once to the banana mixture.

Fold until just combined.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes in a round cake pan or 50-55 minutes in a bread pan.

Remove from the oven.

Take the banana bread out of the hot pan and leave to cool before slicing to serve.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are celebrating International Banana Festival Day which falls on September 21st. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below.

Banana Apple Coffee Cake Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
Banana Daiquiri from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Banana Oat Muffins from Amy's Cooking Adventures
Extra Banana Banana Bread from Food Lust People Love
High Protein Banana Muffins from Our Good Life
Protein Rich Banana Smoothie from Mayuri's Jikoni
Using Banana Leaves + Cochinita Pibil from Culinary Cam
Vrat Kacche Kele Ke Seekh Kebab from Sneha's Recipe

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Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Scallop Roe Bottarga

Scallop roe bottarga is a condiment made with fresh roe, lots of salt and time. It’s wonderful grated on almost anything, adding a lovely briny flavor.

I’ve got to admit that while I love fresh scallops and we buy them from time to time when we are here in the Channel Islands, I’m not really a fan of the roe. I’ve tried cooking it with the scallops but even a bunch of garlic can’t help me get over the texture. They’re just kinda spongy.

So every time I take them off and discard them, I feel bad. The ones here are so plump and pretty - such a vibrant orange! - that it seems a shame to waste them. A couple of years ago, I was in Phoenicia supermarket in Houston with its great deli counter and stacked shelves of tasty imported goods when I came across bottarga. I had never heard of it before.

I looked it up when I got home. Bottarga is the salted, cured, dried pouch of fish roe, most commonly from the grey mullet or bluefin tuna. According to my search, it’s an ancient delicacy dating back to Phoenician and Egyptian times, and it remains a staple in Mediterranean cooking, especially in Italy, Sardinia, and Greece.

Well, the small piece of bottarga in the deli section of Phoenicia was quite expensive for something I’d just like to try, so I left it behind but, when faced with throwing out yet more scallop roe, I remembered and it occurred to me that roe is roe, after all, and maybe I could make my own bottarga.

Turns out I’m not the first person to have this idea because I came across a few recipes/instructions for salting and curing scallop roe and I decided to give it a try. Took me two attempts to get the timings right but I was very pleased with the end result.

Scallop Roe Bottarga

Avoid cooking or heating bottarga directly, instead, add it as a finishing touch to hot dishes. My recipe is adapted from one on Peckham Kitchen.

Ingredients

Trimmed scallop roe

Sea salt

Time

Patience!

Method

Soak the roe for 24 hours in a 10% salt solution, i.e. 10g salt for every 100ml cold water, in the refrigerator.

The next day, remove the roe from the salt water, drain and pat dry with paper towels.

On a deep plate or shallow bowl where the roe will fit in a single layer, pour sea salt flakes to create a flat, even bed for the roe. Place the roe on top in one layer. Cover the roe with more salt. Place the plate in the refrigerator.

After 24 hours, remove the roe from the salt. Gently brush away any salt that has stuck to it. Mine was completely wet and the salt dissolved both times I made this. I tipped the bowl for this photos so you can see the liquid pooled on the side, if you squint just right.

Pat the roe dry. Rinse the plate, discarding the salt and any liquid that has collected.

Wash and dry the plate and cover it with fresh salt. Add the roe and cover it with salt as well. Return the plate to the refrigerator.

Repeat this process for several days after which time the roes should have firmed up. The first time I made scallop roe bottarga, I did this for four days and determined that a whole week would result in firmer roe. So that’s what I did the second time.

The traditional method to dry the roe further so it can be grated, is to place it in a single layer of cheesecloth and hang in a cool dry place for 10 to 15 days. This would no doubt work if you have a cool, dry place. Summertime on an island was not ideal.

I chose a more modern method which is what I recommend if you have access to a dehydrator. Dehydrate the roe, covered in whatever salt is still stuck to them, at 122°F or 50°C for 48 hours. The first batch, with its shorter salting time, needed longer to dry out.

I store mine, still covered in its light layer of salt, in a glass container in the refrigerator, brushing off all of the salt well when I want to grate some. It keeps for ages like that.

Using a sharp grater, like a microplane, you can sprinkle bottarga on anything that needs a little saltiness – where you might add Parmesan, perhaps - with the added bonus of a delightful briny, marine flavor. It’s magical on buttered pasta! Or scrambled eggs. Or risotto.

Enjoy!

I grated the one I'd rubbed free of salt for these photos. Isn't the color marvelous! Enjoy!

Welcome to the 19th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter S. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the S recipes below: