Baby Bites Broccoli Cheese

Sometimes for this I use cauliflower, sometimes broccoli and sometimes both in one for a variation - either way this is an absolute favourite. 

The great thing with it is that you can prepare a large portion of Broccoli Cheese and serve as a side dish to the rest of the family too.

This amount makes 4 portions - but if your little one is just starting out or has a smaller appetite will make about six. 

Whole head of broccoli
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
1/2 pint of milk
30g of Red Leicester (can also use Cheddar or other mild, hard cheeses) 
Nutmeg

Firstly cut the broccoli into small florets and boil until cooked but still firm. Drain and then return to the heat for 10 seconds to remove any excess moisture then place into an oven proof dish.

Turn the oven on to about 180⁰. 

Next you need to make your cheese sauce which is in the form of a roux, which may seem daunting but is actually really easy. Firstly place a small pan on a low-medium heat and add the butter. 

Allow to slowly melt, and then once all of the butter has melted, add the flour and use a wooden spoon to stir through and combine into what will be the 'thickening' part of your sauce. 

Next slowly add a little milk at a time, stirring through each time until combined, and without lumps. 

Once all of the milk has been added and the sauce is without lumps, grate in 30g of Red Leicester (or cheese of your choice), and continue to stir. Cook for a further 4-5 minutes until the cheese is completely melted and the sauce has begun to thicken. 

Then remove from the heat and pour over the broccoli. Use a spoon to turm over the florets and ensure they are all coated in the cheese sauce.

Grate over some nutmeg or use a pinch of ground nutmeg and this can go into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Once cooled for a few moments, use a potato masher to mash up and get to a lumpy texture or if you are still giving pureed food blitz in the food processor for a smooth consistency.

Baby Bites Nourishing Vegetable Soup

This is a lovely nutritious soup recipe with plenty of flavour despite using just water to make rather than stock – thus removing any salt element immediately. It is particularly good if little one has a cold too as the garlic and ginger are both incredibly restorative.

I serve this with some toast dunked in the soup and allow Bridget to feed herself these while spoon-feeding the rest but this would work equally well with pitta bread or rice cakes.

Equally the beauty of a vegetable soup is that you can use any vegetables you might have lurking in the fridge, parsnips, swede, sweet potato, spinach and cauliflower all work well in this soup.

This makes six portions and this freezes really well too. Just pop out of the freezer in the morning and the small portion will be defrosted in time for lunch or dinner.

1 garlic clove

1 thumb nail size piece of ginger

2 sticks of celery

5 cherry tomatoes

1 carrot

¼ head of broccoli

2 tbsp frozen peas

Drizzle of olive oil

1 bay leaf

1/2 pint water

Firstly crush the garlic and chop the ginger up. Add a drizzle of oil to a saucepan and add both to the pan on a low heat to soften.

Meanwhile peel and dice the carrot and slice the celery (make sure it’s thoroughly washed first) and then add both to the saucepan with the tomatoes.

Allow all to soften and then pour over the half pint of water.

Chop the broccoli into small florrets and add to the soup mixture with the bay leaf and frozen peas and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes or so.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for ten minutes, then either use a hand blitzer or place into a blender and liquidise to a thin soup. 

Baby Bites Eggy Bread

Once past the six month mark, babies are able to eat well-cooked eggs (they can't be runny until they reach 1). This was the first egg-based dish I introduced to Bridget and she absolutely loves it. Once cooked & cooled enough for her to handle, I cut into bite-sized pieces and she feeds herself. I usually serve with some soft fruit such as banana, strawberries, mango or peach. Obviously you can do a whole slice but I like to cut into fun shapes for Bridget.

1 slice granary bread
1 free range & organic egg
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch icing sugar
Fruit of your choice
Drizzle of olive oil

If making the bread into shapes, use a cookie cutter to do so first.

Add your drizzle of olive oil to a pan and place on a medium heat.

Crack the egg into a bowl and beat.

Take your bread shapes and place into the egg mixture and turn over until fully coated.

Put a smidge of dusted cinnamon onto each side of the bread and place into the hot pan.

Fry for one-two minutes on each side until nicely toasted and golden brown

Remove from the pan and place onto some kitchen roll to drain off some of the excess oil, turning over so both sides get drained.

Then pop onto a plate with some chopped fruit, dust with a tiny bit of icing sugar and serve.

Baby Bites - Salmon and Broccoli

Once you've started to introduce proteins to your baby, oily fish such as salmon is a great choice as it is filled with nutrients such as Omega-3, vitamin B12, potassium and selenium and is known to be a great ‘brain-boosting’ food, so Bridget has salmon once or twice a week in my bid to nurture her into the little genius that I suspect she will be become.

This dish is very simple and with the addition of broccoli, which is a fabulous source of Vitamin C, this is a well-balanced nutritious meal.

You can steam, poach or bake your salmon just ensure it is cooked through as little stomachs can't tolerate the rarer salmon that I would eat myself.

Personally, I steam salmon for Bridget in a little steamer saucepan and cook the broccoli underneath.

This makes 2-3 portions.

1 salmon fillet
Quarter head of broccoli

Firstly check the salmon fillet for any bones and discard.

Wash the broccoli quarter and chop up into small florrets. Pop into the bottom part of the saucepan section with boiled water, place the steamer part on top with the salmon fillet on and place the lid on top and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Check the salmon is cooked through and again make sure there aren't any bones. Flake the salmon with a fork and gently mash, still keeping some shape to the flakes.

Drain the broccoli then return to the pan and place back on the heat for 5-10 seconds just to absorb any retained moisture. Remove from the heat then mash, add a little drizzle of olive oil if this proves difficult but it should mash well.

Combine the salmon and broccoli and portion up accordingly, allowing a portion to cool enough before feeding to your little one.

Baby Bites - Cheesy Sweet Potato Mash

From six months old in the weaning game, almost anything is fair game with a few exceptions. Part of the fun here is introducing new tastes, flavours and then eventually textures, so to start with, we had simply mashed individual root vegetables. The sweeter varieties such as parsnip and sweet potatoes were particular favourites, but I've read that in order to not give your little one too much of a sweet tooth, it's vital to introduce more savoury tastes around this time too.

You can mash together almost any root vegetables but Bridget really loved the combination of swede and parsnip and carrot with parsnip. Also I started the weaning process a little earlier than six months so at this point we may have been a little more adventurous than if you're just starting out.

One of the first foods I gave to Bridget with protein in, was this Cheesy Sweet Potato and it has since become a firm favourite.

For ease and organisation now I’m back at work, I make up a batch and pop into little pots in the freezer so this makes up 3-4 portions.

2 smallish sweet potatoes or 1 big one
30g cheese, we use Cheddar or Red Leicester

This is the easiest thing to make - simply bake the sweet potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes or until the inside flesh is soft and yielding.

Remove from the oven and then remove the inside flesh and pop into a bowl, using a fork or a masher to fully mash. Sweet potato is such a lovely soft and smooth texture when baked which makes it perfect for little ones even before the arrival of teeth.

Grate in the cheese and fully mix and then divide between 3-4 pots and if serving a portion right away, allow the potato to cool enough first.

When using a ‘frozen’ portion, I remove from the freezer in the morning and allow to defrost first, then simply pop the pot into a bowl of boiled water to warm.

Introducing Bistro Becs Baby Bites

I am very excited to introduce a new focus to Bistro Becs in the form of ‘Baby Bites’.

In September last year my beautiful daughter Bridget was born, who has brought unthinkable joy to both me and my partner (and of course our families).

In turn, life has been a little unpredictable and at times chaotic and the blog has certainly been slack but this hasn’t stopped me from cooking and enjoying food – although I have embarked on the 5:2 diet to try and shift some of the baby weight, so for two days a week my consumption has been a little limited!

In the past couple of months, Bridget has slowly been weaned onto solid food and I’ve gone down the ‘traditional weaning’ route, which has included beginning with purees, slowly introducing lumpier textures and then the introduction of finger foods. I can honestly say, that so far it has been absolutely joyous, she has rejected very little and is certainly enjoying her food.

I have mainly made my own ‘baby food’ with some pouches of Ella’s Kitchen and Hipp Organic thrown in for good measure, but since she has mastered more textured food, I’ve made everything from scratch – not because I’m anti-jars or pouches, but because I can, because I enjoy cooking, and mostly because I like to know that I am aware of every ingredient that is going into Bridget’s food.

I found that when looking online for resources, the outlets are actually quite limited so I thought I would share some food and recipes that have been happily welcomed by my daughter in the hope it might help or inspire someone else wanting to prepare their child’s first foods. 

And just because I can't resist sharing, here is a picture of me with my lovely Bridget. Recipes and ideas coming soon.

Smoak