Foodies in a hurry: Quick broccoli and stilton soup recipe
Kay who writes the Blue World Gardener blog has inspired me with her suggestion of a store cupboard meal once a week. I reckoned that I needed to fine tune the larder and start practicing immediately. So when I next visited Daily Bread, I popped a bag of dried onions in my basket. My mum used these a lot when I was growing up. In fact, when I left home for university back in the early seventies, she put a carton in my suitcase along with a very handy cook book Cooking in a Bedsitter by Katharine Whitehorn. This little gem of a book came into...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: comes to the rescue. Tasty, easy, low fat leek and potato soup recipe (vichyssoise)
When I pointed out that soup was on offer at Waitrose my mother’s reaction was instant. “Who’d want to eat soup at this time of year?” Well, Danny and me for starters. We’ve stopped eating soup for lunch for the past month or so and now the weighing scales are in danger of collapsing when we step on board. Soup is so easy to make – why does it seem such a palaver? I’ve been working much nearer home so lunch boxes are no longer planned. I swoop home grab some Boston Baked beans, a chunk of polenta bake...
read moreThe Salami Project: part four. A journey into the heart of the Fens
The temperature in the larder is rising with these warmer days. It is a proper old fashioned cold room but the fridge freezer lives in there and the large motor inadvertently heats the room. Great in mid winter as things don’t freeze but in summer it’s not cool enough for maturing my fast growing family of salami. After the initial excitement of one salami actually tasting good, I have started experimenting in earnest. One of the ways of cutting down our weekly spend was to avoid buying speciality salami. I have yearned for it so...
read moreIndulgent spinach, bacon, cheese and potato frittata recipe
Frittata. The word used to freeze me to the core. It meant nasty, yellow rubbery slabs. Now the suggestion is welcomed with open arms since we were introduced to Anna’s brilliant potato frittata. We’ve guzzled them every week since then. A great way of using up a glut of eggs as well as being true instant comfort food. If you are prepared, a tasty frittata will be on the table in 20 minutes. (If Someone Else lays the table, polishes the glasses, prepares the salad and opens the wine). Last week I was determined to use up the last...
read moreLow Fat Cooking: Baked tomatoes stuffed with Soya mince and tantalising flavours
My mum tried Soya mince once and never again. I can still remember the shriek. Danny’s mum also tried it once. Perhaps they read they same article. About a month ago I was tootling around the Daily Bread Cooperative with my mum. I spotted a shelf of Soya products and was about to accelerate past when I thought I’d stop and investigate. Soya is gluten free and packed with protein, vitamins and minerals. It’s a high yield product, so it’s cheap. They were offering Soya mince and chunks (these seemed to look a bit like dog...
read moreThe salami project: part 3
We had the day marked clearly on the calendar when we could sample our salami. 14 days since they were first hung in the larder to cure. Apparently you can taste them just to see how they are getting on and seal the cut end with a piece of lard. Generally, salami take between 4 and 10 weeks to mature completely. They have hung in the larder, smelling delicious and getting thinner and knobblier by the day. “What exactly are we eating?” D was dubious as I sliced through the long immature salami. “Cured meat and garlic and...
read moreDeluxe fish pie recipe
A few months ago a local caterer and superb cook was spotted buying a Waitrose fish pie. When she was asked why she was buying one when she could easily run up a pie herself, her response was clipped. "I just couldn’t make it for the price." The story did the rounds in Newmarket and presumably Waitrose fish pie sales soared. Fish pie is a rare treat as fish is so expensive these days. But with a little patience and forethought you can enjoy a great fish pie for a fraction of the price. Every now and then I shop at Waitrose on...
read moreForaging Rocambole (Sand Leek, Spanish Garlic): an edible alternative to wild garlic
There’s a lane that I often drive through on the outskirts of Dullingham village. It is called Eagle Lane and runs beside a large estate. At the top of the lane there are a pair of vast palace sized ornamental gates with a gate house just beyond, snug amongst the trees. A good half mile down the road, two large stone eagles guard anther wide entrance. These old eagles sit aloft high stone posts. They are large and distract the eye from the entrance. On close examination, the entrance reveals nothing but a haze of trees, wispy green and...
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