Best vegetarian recipes: Double tomato tartines recipe
Bored up a ladder is quite a good state to be in if I’m working across the road from the cottage. It’s salved by a proper lunch hour. I can guzzle a sandwich and concentrate on a bit of midday weeding. Yesterday I decided to cook us lunch, from scratch. I had found an intriguing recipe and also have four dolls sized virgin bread tins that I have been aching to use for some time. Facing a glut of tomatoes in the fridge I’d grazed several cookery books and the recipe that caught my eye was deep within in The Silver Spoon. This...
read moreAsparagus and ricotta tarts sprinkled with lemon zest and parmesan recipe
Although we are in the middle of the asparagus season it wasn’t until last week that I found English asparagus on sale locally. I bought a couple of bunches, put them in a large jug of cold water and forgot about them. I spotted them a few evenings later, looking less than their best so I snapped off the tops and made these savoury tarts. Perhaps it was desperation to get the best possible return on the small harvest that made things move up a gear in the cottage smallholder kitchen. Or possibly the fact that Danny had left a tempting...
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 moreAnne Mary’s recipe for Magimix pastry
I learnt how to make pastry at school. I didn’t enjoy the experience. It seemed to take forever. I think that I made it for Smart Wife. Once. Heavy ponderous stuff that shrank alarmingly away from the sides of the quiche dish when baked blind and guaranteed a soggy bottom. Light years later I discovered Jusrol. Not having a rolling pin or a board I rolled it out on my worktop using an empty wine bottle. Perfect. But not quite as perfect as the pre-rolled Jusrol. I had inherited a rather dashing rolling pin by the time I found the long...
read moreA quiche in tart’s clothing. Tasty Spinach and Cornish Yarg Tart recipe
“I do hope this quiche is tasty,” I carelesly remarked as we sat down for lunch. Danny was just about to sample my concoction and paused fork in air. “You said it was a tart.” “Well, yes. It is a tart.” I had slipped up. Danny won’t eat quiche, but he’ll wolf down tart. “Isn’t a quiche supposed to be bland?” “Of course not. People wouldn’t eat them if they were bland.” “Well most men don’t eat them. This is definitely a tart.” He cut himself...
read moreBlogs worth visiting: Writing at the Kitchen Table
We’ve had rather a gruelling time recently. Just wall to wall work plus projects, blog and garden. It’s very easy to get things out of proportion. I found myself driving down to Essex, gripping the steering wheel and fretting about not getting all my seeds in on time. So I earmarked Sunday to catch up. Not with a frenzy of seed planting but a lazy long morning in bed with the Min Pins and the laptop. I find that catching up on relaxing is often the best answer for stress. Somehow, miraculously, everything falls into place. So what...
read moreHow to avoid making a soggy bottomed quiche
I was given a really good tip today from a quiche maker. She sells quiches to her local deli. “Do you know how to avoid soggy pastry?” No, I didn’t. I never make quiche as D is not a fan. I love it and occasionally buy one for a girly lunch. Mysteriously Danny always vanishes with the remains. “Well there is no need to bake the pastry blind (pre-bake). All I do is make my pastry and line the buttered dish. Using a fork, prick the base in several places. Then brush the pastry with beaten egg. Let this harden until it is...
read moreThe soufflé omelette recipe
We make this omelette as a treat for each other. We call it The Souflette. If we are cooking for children we always make this for their supper as they love the crisp outside and the super fluffy melt in the mouth centre. At the moment I am working down in Saffron Walden at my friend Clare’s house. She made this omelette for her children’s supper. When her husband Mike sampled it, he insisted that she cooked the same for their supper. Once you’ve tried this recipe, rubbery omelettes will never darken your kitchen door...
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