Boxing day lunch: smoked ham with a fresh parsley sauce recipe
We always buy a ham at Christmas to keep the goose company in the fridge and provide us with endless meals. Starting with ham sandwiches on Christmas day and hot ham with a fresh parsley sauce on Boxing Day. The latter is eaten on trays as we indulge in an afternoon of horse racing on the telly. Danny and my mum sit watching the racing whilst I put on my pinny and provide the maid service end of things. Homemade parsley sauce is a cinch to make. A basic Béchamel with parsley lemon and quite a bit of freshly ground white pepper makes a good...
read moreSimple baked egg recipe
My Mother prefers to eat a proper lunch rather than a big meal in the evening. Always one to watch her figure, she knew the dangers of eating too much late in the day. So in the school holidays we ate a ‘Proper Lunch’. Quite often this was forced down within an hour of getting out of bed. The culinary highlight of the day for me was supper. Everyone prepared their own meal. The fridge was bursting with good things. Perhaps this is why I prefer snacky food to proper meals all these years down the line. A constant, comforting staple...
read moreTomatoes for breakfast
I harvest our tomatoes in the evening, when I water them. They are collected in the fold of my jumper and transferred to a bowl on the kitchen worktop to be admired and eaten. The harvest is just three or four a day at the moment and most mornings the bowl is bare. “Where are the tomatoes?” “I ate them for breakfast. You told me I could eat some.” Danny quite often gets up at four to start work. But tomatoes for breakfast Yuk! If I want to eat our tomatoes I have to hide them in a dark spot in the fridge or my secret...
read moreJam sandwiches
“I wondered if you’d like a jam sandwich? Margaret pushed a tiny bag of dainty sandwiches along the worktop towards me. “They were rejected by a passing monk.” I was intrigued. “He took the paté and cucumber ones. It’s a long drive to Ambelforth so I’m surprised that he didn’t want the others.” She pushed the bag a little further toward me with an encouraging nod. I was vaguely peckish but . . jam sandwiches? To be polite I took a tiny sandwich and sampled it. Perhaps it was the jam...
read moreBrie de Meaux and fresh ripe plums
Danny loves Brie de Meaux and, unfortunately for him, I am becoming addicted too. It’s available in the UK but there is nothing like a slab bought from a French cheese shop and delivered to your door the very next day. It tastes better, fresher and even looks more tempting dressed in the chunky fromagerie paper. Then wrapped in an outer layer of delicate brown paper that has the soft, gentle crackle of a special present, wrapped with care. Supermarkets have forced out most of the small specialist shops in the UK. It’s still OK if...
read moreThe Manchego Membrillo Combination
I have become addicted to the Manchego Membrillo Combination. This is not a barber shop trio but a marrying of flavours so exquisite that it had me rushing home for lunch for lunch three days this week. I added my own ingredient, Bath Oliver Biscuits. Manchego is a traditional ewe’s milk cheese from Spain’s La Mancha region. It is matured for six months. This delicious cheese, has a smooth texture with a soft flavour and is perfect eaten with a slim slice of sweet Quince Paste. As far as I remember, Cervantes’ Don Quixote...
read moreCottage Smallholder Crumpet with Grilled Egg, the ultimate breakfast recipe
I love crumpets. The honeycomb texture cries out for butter and jam or honey. Danny picked some up yesterday and I found them in the bread bin this morning. As he was out of the house, I decided to experiment and incorporate one into my breakfast. I would try grilling an egg on top of a crumpet. Hoping that he would return soon I had already grilled some bacon. I set the grill to its lowest setting and put the crumpet, bobbly side up, into a small ovenproof dish. Then I broke the egg over it. It took a good ten minutes to cook. Danny arrived...
read moreCheesy Crackles snack lunch recipe
This summer has had its high points, weather wise. Recently the winds and the chill that heralds torrential rain have prevailed. I think of soup and warming savouries if I can get back home for lunch. Planning lunch is a tricky, think on your feet, task while Jalopy and I are rumbling home through the driving rain. Whilst Jalopy copes with the elements, I am considering what I might discover in the fridge, if I can drive though the flood water that stands to the south of the village when it rains hard. Yesterday I rushed in, hung up my...
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