SMOKED MACKEREL KEDGEREE

This takes no time at all to whip up and makes the perfect breakfast for Christmas day. Change the mackerel for kippers, if you're anything like my Dad, or throw in trimmings of last night's smoked salmon.

Smoked mackerel kedgeree

Serves 2

2 free-range eggs

good drizzle olive oil

knob of butter

1/2 banana shallot, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric

250g cooked basmati rice

handful spinach leaves, washed and roughly sliced

150g smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed

handful dill leaves, roughly chopped

lemon wedges to serve

 
1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the eggs for 5 minutes until soft boiled. Drain and rinse under cold water before peeling and slicing in half.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and the butter in a frying pan and fry the shallot for a few minutes until just softened. Add the garlic, cumin, cayenne and turmeric and fry for a further 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the rice until coated in the spices and hot through. Add the spinach and fry until wilted then flake in the mackerel and stir in the dill. Season and squeeze in lemon juice to taste. Serve with the soft-boiled eggs.

GOAT'S CURD AND LEMON PANCAKES

Goat's curd - a creamy, fresh and mild goats cheese that is made by straining the whey from milk - is heaven. I smooth it onto rye toasts with a sweet/savoury honey walnut pesto, or I toss it through cooled, cooked potatoes with crushed garlic and thyme for an easy potato salad.

It's easier to make than buy - though Neals Yard Dairy do a delicious unpasteurised version at about £8 a yogurt pot sized tub (not cheap but it's worth it). Better to make your own by straining wholemilk goat's yogurt through a muslin or clean dishcloth overnight, neatly tied up over a bowl, so the whey drips away, and the solids thicken.

These pancakes make for a perfect weekend breakfast, piled high on a plate and drizzled with honey. You can swap the curd for ricotta for a classic version, but the goat gives a gentle tang that makes them completely moreish when balanced with sweet fruit and sticky syrup. Makes 6-8 small, fluffy pancakes.

Goat's curd and lemon breakfast pancakes

30g unsalted butter, plus extra, melted, for brushing

3 medium free range eggs

200g goat's curd, plus extra to serve

20g caster sugar

zest of a small lemon

50g plain flour

honey, raspberries and nectarines to serve

1. Melt the butter in a pan and leave to cool. Separate the egg whites into a large scrupulously clean bowl, and the yolks into another.
2. Whisk the goat's curd, sugar, lemon zest into the egg yolks until smooth. Fold in the butter, followed by the flour.
3. Beat the whites with a clean hand whisk to stiff peaks. Stir a tablespoonful of  whisked egg whites into the yolk mix to loosen, then gently fold the rest in, using a metal spoon, being careful not to knock the air out.
4. Brush a pan with a little butter and put over a medium heat. Gently dollop 6-8 large tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and speckled, and just cooked through.
 5. Plate up immediately, dousing the pancakes in honey and top with fresh fruit. Serve with extra curd if you like. 

CHICORY BAKED EGGS

CHICORY BAKED EGGS

SERVES 2 

as a starter, Sunday supper, or brunch

knob butter for greasing

1tbsp olive oil

1 head red chicory, sliced

1/2 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp thyme leaves

60g soft crumbly cheese -I used Munster

2 medium free-range eggs

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas 6. Butter 2 x 10cm ramekins.

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the chicory for 3 minutes until wilted, then add the garlic. Stir through and keep on the heat for another minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Distribute the chicory between the 2 ramekins and top with the crumbled cheese. Crack an egg on each and place in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the white of the egg has hardened and the cheese is bubbling. Remove from the oven and serve.

MARMALADE HOT CROSS BUNS

Hot cross buns are a joy to make. They dress you in a pinny, cover you in flour, and make you instantly loved by everybody. Bring out a towering plate of warm sticky buns on Easter morning and you're anyone's.

Cut in half, spread through a little (or a lot of) salted butter and melt into marmalade goodness.

MARMALADE HOT CROSS BUNS

makes about 16

ingredients

700g strong white bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp mixed spice or a combination of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon.

100g sugar

zest of 1 large orange

7g easy bake/fast-action yeast

1 duck egg (or 1 large hen egg), beaten

300ml milk, warm

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp water

2 tbsps thin cut marmalade for glazing

Sieve the flour, salt, and spices into a large bowl. Make a well for the sugar, and add the zest and yeast. Pour in the egg and the tepid milk and mix, leaving to sit for a few minutes to activate the yeast.

Now, using your hands or a wooden spoon, fold the flour into the wet well, mixing to make a soft dough. If too wet and sticky add a little flour; if too dry add tepid milk a little at a time. Knead for roughly 5 minutes, pulling the dough away from you and pushing it with your palms and knuckles.

Oil and lightly flour the bowl. Sit the dough in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot for an hour to prove.

Set the oven to the hottest it will go (roughly 240C).

Knock the air out of the dough on a floured surface, knead briefly, and set aside again to prove for 30 minutes or so.

Then, divide the dough into equal amounts (a small handful) and shape into balls. Lay into lines in a large roasting tin, leaving a three-finger sized gap between each bit of dough. Rest for 20 minutes, covered.

Mix 1 tbsp flour with 1 tbsp water. It should stretch nicely over the buns to form a cross. Do this after the dough has rested and place in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes until brown.

Remove onto a wire rack and glaze with the marmalade whilst still warm. Cut in half, toast again and smother with good butter. You may weep.

Get BAKING.

CRAB OMELETTE

The truth is, I've always been terrible at omelettes. Scrambled before they have a chance to set and flipped onto the plate into a sloppy mound, rather than elegantly slipped from the pan in a perfect fold. I don't admit my failure much.

A good omelette, or so I learnt last night, takes a little patience and a bit of skill, good eggs and a non-stick pan. A silicon spatula works a dream to loosen the edges. It turns out they are pretty simple to do. Who knew?

This recipe makes a non-omeletteer seem pro. All it takes is a few scrumptious ingredients, a whisk, a confident smile, and you've got yourself a gourmet supper in seconds.

CRAB OMELETTE


SERVES 1

drop olive oil/ small knob butter
3 eggs
salt and pepper
tbsp chives, finely chopped
tbsp dill, finely chopped
tbsp brown crab meat
2 tbsps white crab meat

Whisk the eggs, seasoning, herbs and brown crab meat in a small bowl.

Then melt a small amount of butter or wipe a little olive oil around a large, flat, non-stick pan. Place over a medium-hot heat.

When the pan is hot, pour in the egg mixture and swill around the pan. Using the spatula, quickly scramble the eggs, so that the cooked egg comes to the top. Swill again so you have a large, even, circle shape, filling the gaps in the pan with the uncooked egg. Loosen the edges of the omelette with the spatula. Scatter the crab along the vertical diameter and, when the egg is almost cooked and the underside is browning, start to roll the omelette from right to left.

Slip onto a warm plate and scatter with any remaining herbs. Serve with a fresh green salad.

This is suitable for those crazy fools on the Dukan diet - just use very little oil to wipe the pan and don't have the salad.

PEA FRITTATA

This week, after an over-carnivorous jolly at Abergavenny Food Festival, I opted to go meat free. Why? To boost veg intake, to be friendly to the environment, to save a bit of money and to try new things...Yep, all those things. Halo.

So far, the most notable change has been my weak, weak willpower.

There was a minor blip just 24 hours into my new found vegetarianism when I tucked into a juicy leg of chicken without even thinking. The slip-up was purely accidental and I didn't clock until the chook was done and digested. Since, aside from dreaming of more chicken legs, I have been trying to think before I eat.

So far, though shaky, so good. I've denied myself beautiful black pudding-stuffed grouse, and mac and cheese with minuscule shards of pancetta (bacon's just seasoning, right?). I refused leftover lamb and date tagine at work today - something I have never be known to do before. I even used vegetable stock in the recipe below.

The truth is, I often cook vegetarian food - my last blog was beetroot ravioli with sage butter and it was to die for. I certainly don't think you need to eat meat with every meal - vegetables are so very delicious on their own - but I do think that meat is damn hard to turn down when it's offered. This week has been fickle but strengthening, so maybe a week once a month will produce a less-meat-eating-me and - we'll see - a less greedy one...

Here is tonight's vegetarian supper which arrived crispy and light and sweet. No craving the big stuff as of yet.

CRISPY PEA FRITTATA

serves 2

ingredients

2 small floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, peeled and halved
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
handful of fresh mint leaves
200g petit pois
100g Parmesan, grated
1 tbsp vegetable stock
3 free-range eggs, yolks separated from whites
knob of butter
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the potatoes until soft. Drain and slice.

Meanwhile, in another saucepan, melt a small knob of butter. Add the onions and soften. Follow with the garlic, peas and stock. Season well and add the Parmesan. Roughly blend with a hand whizzer.

Layer a small, shallow, buttered oven dish with the slice potatoes. Cover with the pea mixture and set aside. Lightly whisk the yolks and season. Now whisk the egg whites in a dry, non-oily bowl until stiff. Gently fold the yolks into the whites - you don't want to bash the air out - and pour over the peas and potatoes.

Place the dish carefully into the oven. Cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the top of the frittata is golden. Drizzle with olive oil, a pinch of sea salt flakes and serve.

Serve as it is with a watercress and spinach salad (or as a perfect accompaniment to a roast chicken lunch. Ouch).

ELDERBERRY ICE CREAM

This vivid magenta ice cream is wonderfully easy to make and, for the most part, is free. Go and pick the elderberries now - they look like deep purple versions of mistletoe; small berries in a bunch, hanging from an eight-stemmed stalk. You'll find them in trees amongst early sloes and damsons and they'll be around for the next month. Their taste is musky and sharp and much less versatile than the blackberry - we don't use them in cooking very much - but get them swimming in sugar and they become berrily potent and sweet.

ELDERBERRY ICE CREAM


ingredients

600ml double cream
100g caster sugar
4 egg yolks, room temperature, whisked
...
200g elderberries, de-stalked and washed
150g caster sugar

Heat the cream and sugar in a large saucepan and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and gently and slowly whisk in the egg yolks until thickened to a custard and evenly mixed. Set aside.

In another pan, gently heat the elderberries with the sugar, until the sugar has dissolved and the elderberries are just bursting. You do not want to overcook the berries but make them plump and juicy. Sieve the berries into another bowl, leaving pips and bits of rogue foliage behind. When both the custard and compote are cooled mix them together in a shallow metal bowl. Cover with cling film or tin foil and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill and set.

After 30 minutes give the custard a whisk and, unless you have a trendy ice cream machine, transfer to the freezer. Every two hours, whisk up the ice cream so that any ice crystals are mixed in. Do this two or three times before leaving the ice cream to set and freeze before serving. Mine took just over a night and a day to freeze but it depends on the temperature and the fullness of your freezer. It is best eaten within the week but can stay frozen, well covered, for longer.

Scrumptious with crushed Amaretti biscuits and a few fresh mint leaves.

ROSE COTTAGE IS TWO!

The blog is two today, thunder stolen slightly by Kate and Wills, but being cooked a delicious breakfast in celebration.

It's been a scrumptious year. Now off to Copenhagen to kick off year 3. (Royal wave, royal wave).

Thanks to all who follow!

EASTER EGGS

The fasting is almost over, so feast on this for the Bank Holiday breakfast. Happy Easter!

SCRAMBLED EGGS with NEW BRIT ASPARAGUS and HOT SMOKED TROUT
on SOURDOUGH BREAD

Self-explanatory but crisp the bread and butter it hot, keep the eggs soft, the asparagus al dente and the trout gently warmed in the oven.

Eggsquisite. (Had to be done).

OLD TART

A heatwave strikes - Burnt noses, bare (white) legs, and wide smiles. The first of this year's barbecues are lit, Mr Whippy vans are on sell-out, and salads are served instead of soup at Books For Cooks. I can't help but get excited about this unexpected burst of summer in the middle of spring.

But the best thing about this time of year is the incoming gems on the market - and there is no grumbling worry that they're going to disappear with the rain at the end of the week. It's time for asparagus, watercress, sorrel and spring greens. Green, light and full of flavour.

Just like the way we Britons get giddy at the sight of sun, the sight of new veg sends me potty. I buy as much as I can. It's reckless, perhaps, but fun, and trying to make use of it all, to love every leaf, makes for happy friends and a happy kitchen.

This tart is salty, buttery and moreish. The savoy cabbage and leeks bring a fresh brightness to the plate, and the crispy chorizo pushes forward a flavour of a hopeful hot summer ahead. Eat with a warm watercress, pea and mint salad, drizzled with tart lemon and olive oil.

LEEK, SAVOY CABBAGE & SAGE TART WITH CHORIZO


ingredients

shortcrust pastry for 9 in quiche tin (best to use a loose-base tin)

180g plain flour, sifted
pinch salt
90g cold butter, cubed
1 free-range egg yolk
2 tbsps water

tart filling

1 free range egg and 2 free-range egg yolks
170ml double cream (half creme fraiche works well too)
2 tbsps freshly grated Parmesan
salt and pepper
large knob of butter
1/2 leek, thinly sliced
1/2 savoy cabbage, shredded
3 sage leaves
3 tbsps cream cheese (optional)
knob of Catalan chorizo 5x3cm, thinly sliced into rounds
(if veggie or want a meat-free option, toast pine nuts and sprinkle on top of the tart)

Butter the tin and place in the fridge.

Rub together the sifted flour, salt and butter lightly with your fingers until you reach a breadcrumb-like consistency. Add the egg and water and bind into a soft ball of dough. Do not knead too much; the lighter the dough the better.

On a floured table, roll out the pastry to fit the tin to around 2cm thick. Cut the excess from the edge of the tin, being aware that the pastry will shrink.

Once placed in the tin, leave to cool in the fridge for at least an hour, or in the freezer for 15 minutes if short for time. Pastry works best when cold.

Preheat the oven to 190˚C/375˚F/ Gas 5.

When the pastry has been in the fridge for a while, fill the base with ceramic beans. If you have none, dried pasta or beans will do - you don't want the base of the pastry to start rising. Place the pastry in the oven for 10 minutes. After this time, remove the weights and put back in the oven to brown the pastry, and cook for another 10 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile, mix the eggs, cream and grated cheese in a jug and season with salt and pepper.

Melt the knob of butter in the pan and braise the leeks and cabbage together until soft. Throw in the sage and chorizo to crisp up. (This would be a good time to toast the pine nuts).

Take the pastry out of the oven and arrange the leeks and cabbage around the base, leaving the chorizo aside. Pour over the egg mixture. If using cream cheese dollop a few spoonfuls over the egg and put back in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Half way through cooking, scatter on the chorizo.

When cooked and golden, leave to cool slightly in the tin. Then lift it out on to a plate and serve with the pea salad.

SCOTCH EGGS @ The Princess Vic

There is something addictive about the Princess Victoria.

Round, oblong, oval wooden tables lit by nightlights in glass jars; tall ceilings; a fireplace big enough to sit in. On sunny days you can sit on white iron tables and chairs in a small walled herb garden at the back.

The staff are lovely. They don't hang over your table like newspaper-peekers on the tube, but appear just as you need them. Ice-cold water. Very good bread.

The menu picks out the best of good pub grub - scratchings, rillettes, whitebait with aioli, pickled onions - and the chef, James, makes damn sure it's done well. The meat is sourced from Turnham Green's Machen Brothers and Huntsham Court Farm, and each time I go back there is a different cut - any old bit - of their favourite Gloucestershire Old Spot.

The wine list is long; there are more than 350 different bottles held in the cellars beneath. As much as I'd like to try them all of an afternoon, the Pinot Rose is for me; a light fragrant pink that arrives in a wee 50cl glass caraffe...

All this is definitely worth the wander down the Uxbridge Road. But there's more.

The real thing that makes me go back is the Middle White Pork Scotch Egg.


It's the crisp, buttery, breadcrumb crust and the sweet aniseed taste of tarragon in the pork that makes this Scotch Egg so unbearably good. You can smell it coming.

The pork is soft - not too bready - and holds tight around a soft and perfectly cooked free-range egg. It is salty, but sweet too with wholegrain mustard mixed in with the meat. Sizing up nicely to a large apple, it makes the perfect starter or light lunchtime nibble. Have two and you'll be pleasantly pork-heavy. You eat with your hands, so it's absolutely OK to lick your fingers afterwards. And you'll want to. The knife that comes with it is pretty lovely too.

The smaller Oxtail Scotch Quails Egg is sweet and scrum, but I'd go for the bigger Middle any day of the week...

I could rave on about this place and even more so about their pig'n'egg - I may have already been too sickly - but it's my favourite local and I can't just keep it to myself.

The Princess Victoria pub is situated at the Chiswick end of the Uxbridge Road (No.217), Shepherds Bush.
T: 0208 7495886
Monday to Saturday Lunch: 12 noon - 3pm. Dinner: 6.30pm - 10.30pm.
Sunday Lunch: 12 noon - 4.30pm. Dinner: 6.30pm - 9.30pm.

The Middle White asks a very reasonable £5.90; the Oxtail £3.50

EGGY FARLS WITH BUTTERY STILTON LEEKS

Eggy bread has me dreaming of late nights and late mornings, energy gone. It's exactly what you want from a meal when your head's in a fuzz and your limbs won't move.

Slip, slap, pan, flip, flop.

I love using potato farls instead of bread. A good, spongy sourdough soaks up and holds in the moisture of the egg which is delicious, but with this recipe the farls are coated and crisped, melting away underneath the leeks so you almost don't need to chew. The salty butter and egg lightly fry up the square edges leaving a bit of crunch. Slice into the soft farl and the minty melted leeks, and your knees go giddy. These will be the best ten minutes of your day.

EGGY FARLS WITH BUTTERY STILTON LEEKS


serves2

prep 5 minutes
cooking time 5 minutes

ingredients
3 medium free-range eggs
pinch of chilli flakes
4 Irish potato farls
large knob of salted butter
generous pinch of salt
generous pinch of butter

large knob of butter
1 large leek
1/2 white onion or 3-4 shallots
50g stilton

2 heaps Godmother's Christmas tomato relish.

Finely chop the leeks and onion and set aside in a bowl. Crack three eggs into another bowl, whisk, and season well with salt, pepper and the chilli flakes. Put the farls in with the egg and turn a few times so that each side has been coated.

Heat a large knob of butter in two large frying pans, both on a medium-low heat.

Place the farls, one by one, into one frying pan and pour over the remaining egg mixture that has not been soaked up. Once the egg starts to cook, turn the farls over and fold over the egg around them. After about 30 seconds flip the farls again.

Meanwhile put the leek and onion into the other saucepan with the melted butter, and slowly fry. Add more butter - you'll want them to turn almost creamy. Stir in the stilton. Even creamier.

When the leeks are soft and the farls are crispy, it's time to serve. Pour the leeks onto the farl and serve with a large spoonful of homemade tomato relish. Now, silence.

PEA FOR PERFECTION

This blog is dedicated to my dish de la semaine. I've cooked it three times this week and it continues to excite me...who knew that wee green petit peas could be so wonderfully versatile?

PERFECT PEAS

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

large knob of salted butter
6 sleeves of prosciutto
1 white onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped and pasted
200g petit pois
40ml chicken stock
2 tbsp double cream (optional)

Fry the proscuitto in the butter until almost crispy. Remove the pork form the pan, saving the fat. Saute the onions in the fat until soft and salty. Add the garlic with the peas into the onions. Do not burnt the garlic. Add the stock and simmer until the liquid is all absorbed. Stir in the pork and add the cream. Pour hot from the pan into a warm bowl.

I had mine with a poached egg, and I recall groaning a little once the last mouthful went in. If cooked well, you will taste every ingredient that has gone in with the peas. Sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy...The fresh, sweet little garden pea is given a wild and creamy varooom, and you just can't get enough. Think hoppy grasshopper meets roaring hippo.

Try with sweet cure bacon, broad beans and mint for extra bite.

CAMP CORNWALL

CAR. TENT. PORTABLE GAS COOKER.

Usually braving the waves in Easter, this year I am treading water in warmer seas. No, nothing as daring as 'out of the UK', but going West to the wondrous British holiday destination that is Cornwall.

We're heading down to the beautiful home of Rodda's clotted cream, blow-your-socks-off Rattler cider, and the one and only Padstein. And yes, last year I did get good old Steiny to sign my much-loved Seafood book, only to be sympathetically chuckled at when I requested a recipe to cook on my caravan hob...

This year, Rick would have a field day - crrrryyy with laughter, wet his knickers. We're tenting it. HA IMAGINE. Dinner for two under a cramped and smelly tarpaulin. How very romantic.

But it's not going to be soggy sarnies and salty tea. I've got a gas cooker, pans, a kettle and, boy!, am I going to show them some Cornish love.

But I need your help please. Your suggestions, if you would be so kind, of where to buy, what to cook and where to eat it. We have no plans apart from to roam the winding roads of the Northern Regions of Cornwall (Padstow and around), so by the end of the week I want to have fished and chipped (homemade style) in every little Cornish nook and cranny I come across. Don't hold back on the restaurants either - it will rain.

So while you unload your thoughts underneath this blog, here is a fishy recipe to whet your jealousy and imagine you''ll be in Cornwall with me!

SALMON AND CHILLI FISH CAKES


Recipe adapted from Skye Gyngell's Crab cakes

MAYONNAISE:

3 free-range egg yolks

½ tbsp Dijon mustard

juice of 1 lemon

250ml mild extra-virgin olive oil

SALMON CAKES:

250g fresh salmon

squeeze of lemon juice

4 new potatoes, mashed

1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced

50g fresh white breadcrumbs

200ml very clean, neutral-tasting oil such as sunflower or corn

lemon wedges, to serve

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Bake the salmon fillets for about 20 minutes until cooked through.

Cook the new potatoes in pan until soft. Remove the skin, and mash with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile make the mayonnaise. This will go into the fish cake mix to make them suupppper moist. Whisk the egg yolks with the salt, mustard and lemon juice. Trickle in the oil, very slowly to begin with, whisking all the time. Continue until all the oil is incorporated. You should end up with a lovely, bright yellow, bouncy mayonnaise.

Once the salmon has cooked and cooled slightly, break into small flakes with a fork. Squeeze over the lemon juice and add the chilli, the mashed potatoes and a large pinch of salt. Stir in 100ml of the mayonnaise until evenly mixed in. Cover and place in the fridge for an hour. This will harden the mixture slightly and make it easier to roll into fish cakes.

Spread the breadcrumbs evenly on a clean work surface. Shape the salmon mix into evenly sized patties or balls. Roll in the breadcrumbs, making sure the surface of each cake is well covered. Return them to the fridge for another half an hour.

To cook the cakes, put the sunflower oil in a shallow, heavy-based saucepan and place over a low to medium heat. Heat the oil gently until it reaches about 60°C (check with a thermometer). Gently - and CAREFULLY - drop the cakes into the oil in small batches and cook for two minutes on each side; they should be golden and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Serve with fresh chilli oil, the remaining mayonnaise, and a wedge of lemon. Devour either as a starter, with a warm Nicoise salad - soft boiled eggs, spinach, peas, new potatoes - or serve in brown paper for a Gourmet take away (much like what I hope to be doing on my Cornwall camping escape).

Might I briefly add that it is always VERY wise to turn OFF the heat when the cakes are cooked...I managed to set the pan alight. Nicht gut. That's enough of that memory -but the fish cakes were worth it.

Enough scoffing, now for your beachside, camp fire, pub bench tips.

Beetroot Frittata with Goats Cheese

My diary last week left me no choice but to indulge and wallow in pure and unadulterated gluttony.

Tuesday's celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Lou Hutton's Food of Course Cookery School in Somerset provided an evening spent gorging on deeeeelicious canapes made by previous students. Perfectly formed Lemon Tarts, Beetroot Rosti with a Quinelle of Goats Cheese and succulent tortellini, were washed down with Orchard Mist cocktail. Appropriate taste bud tuning for the next day's eager tour of the neighbouring Bath and West Show...


...And exploit it, I did. It's not every day you get to pair your wild boar and apple sausage with a toxic, brain cell-removing 'Cider by Rosie'. A minefield of culinary beasts - not to mention the oversized prize winning bulls - meant no chance of starvation, and I am no shrinking violet when it comes to tasting samples.


Then to Hay-on-wye fest, where the likes of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall talked food and books and all-things-culture. A book in one hand and a pimms in the other, sheeps milk ice cream, deck chairs in the sun, listening to creative creatures, and tapping away to Laura Marling in concert. Not bad eh?
So as a thank you to a fab food-filled week, here is an adaptation of one of Lou's mouthwatering canapes:

BEETROOT FRITTATA topped with a

QUINELLE OF GOATS CHEESE, and WALNUT AND APPLE SALAD with a REDUCED BALSAMIC DRESSING...

SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS:
Frittata:
Pre-cooked beetroot in natural juices, 250g
200g (or 4 small) eggs
4 tbsps milk/cream
salt and pepper
2 tbsbs melted butter

Goats cheese:
100g somerset soft goats cheese
200g soft cheese

1 apple

10 g chopped walnut

Watercress, spinach and rocket salad

4 tbsps of balsamic vinegar to reduce

Whisk in the grated beetroot with the beaten eggs and sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon of melted butter to the mix.

Heat up the remaining butter in a flat, non-stick frying pan (cm) on a hight heat. Pour in the eggs. Ideally the frittata should be about 1 cm thick. Cook for 5 minutes until cooked on both sides (The best way to flip is to slide the frittata on a plate, hold the pan over the un-cooked side and turn). Place the omelette on a plate to cool slightly. If you like it warm you can always pop the shapes back into a pan of melted butter and crisp them up - it's just easier to cut if cool.

Meanwhile, fold the goats cheese into the soft cheese until firm and mouldable. I like it with just a hint of the goats cheese, but if you like a stronger taste, just add more goat in the place of soft cheese.

For the salad, I used spinach, watercress and rocket, and added chopped walnuts. Slice the apple with a vegetable peeler into thin shavings, and fold into a flower shape to serve next to the frittata. When it's time to serve, slide it slightly under the frittata to hold it in shape.

Pour four tablespoons on balsamic vinegar into a warm pan and reduce until thick. You can buy it pre-reduced but this is so easy to make and produces a rich, sugary and sharp taste.

With a 3 inch cookie cutter, punch out 6 circles of the cooled frittata. Place each on a large plate, and spoon on an almost triangluar shape of the goats cheese mix. Place a few basil leaves on each quinelle, and serve with a handful of salad. This is an in season, easy and delcious starter. For canape size, simple use a small cookie cutter!

A summer smacker!

MUM'S SIGNATURE DISH

POACHED EGG ON LEEKY MASHED POTATO W/ HONEY ROAST SALMON.

LOVE IS...

Please post below what means the world to you.
Spread the Marmite, spread the love.

EASY LIKE...

SUNDAY MORNING. 6TH DECEMBER.


9.30 am.
Two eyes closed.

Two hands reach for the window.

One curtain drawn.

9.31 am. One and a half eyes open.

First lie in for weeks and am jolly well going to milk it for all it's worth. Here I lie, conciously still so not to move position from the warm me-shaped mold in bed.

9.35 am. Roll out, and creep downstairs with bed hair and twisted pijamas, for a hot cup of Earl Grey. Kettle boils. Water in large mug, tea bag in, tea bag out, drop of milk, mug in hand.
Back up I go and crawl into the already cooled bed sheets.

9. 45 am. Flick to find last read page of After The Fire, A Still Small Voice by Evie Wyld. Page 99, Chapter 6.

10.15 am.

Lisa calls to check what time we are heading to Leeds Farmers Market. 9.00 - 14.00. Arrange to meet at midday. Page 114. Chapter 8. Time to think about emerging from the lair.

10.30 am. Wake flatmate up. Feeding time.

I'll be damned if I poached eggs and marmite aren't included in this morning's non-activity.

HEAT UP PAN OF BOILING WATER.
ADD A SPLASH OF WHITE WINE VINEGAR
SPIN UP WATER WITH SPOON FOR WHIRLPOOL EFFECT
SLOWLY DROP IN FREE RANGE EGG
POP TOAST IN
WAIT 3 MINS TIL WHITE HAS FIRMED AROUND YOLK
BUTTER AND MARMITE THE TOAST
PLACE EGG ON TOP
SPRINKLE OF SALT AND PEPPER

Sunday Times essential - if not only to look at the pictures.

12.00 am.
This little piggy goes to market...
Walk down into town to make the most of the reluctant splashes of blue sky between Northern grey cloud blanket. Sun out, steamy breath, cold nose.

12.30 am. Arrival at the Farmers Market after hurling self at Christmas shoppers.

Taste this, taste that,

taste this,


gobble that.

Lancashire Haggis?
Whitby Crab?
Yorkshire Rye?

1.00 pm. £2.50 LINCOLNSHIRE RED BEEF BURGER in fresh white bread.

"E'S GOOD AT T'GAB INT'E THAT ONE"

90% locally reared BEEF
4% RUSK (breadcrumbs)
SEASONING

EAT.

1.30pm.Carol Singing.

Waddle home.

Hot Chocolate and Film with Ski Socks and Woolly Hats.

No food for a month. Well...maybe until Supper...

Gotta love Christmas.

I LOVE ASPARAGUS.

Don't know about you, but I say at the top of my voice: 'Thank God Asparagus Season Is Back!'

Alas it's only here for the best of two months, so from late April to mid June, our days are to be spent experimenting with this goodly green! There is nothing simpler or more delicious to eat than a plate of four or five or, go on, six, fresh, al dente steamed asparagus spears drizzled in butter...or with anything for that matter. Despite minor side-effects, of which I will leave out, I could easily eat them with every meal. Although served hot they are unbelievably juicy and refreshing and they are the perfect starter for the oncoming summer. I love asparagus on their own, in salad, with meat, ohhh and with poached eggs!

Having just read Nick Wyke's article on How to Cook Asparagus, my taste buds are excited. There are so many ways to cook and serve this heavenly vegetable. As I mentioned before, I love asparagus with eggs. One old favourite recipe which features both these ingredients is Gloria's Pasta. Gloria was one of my mother's hens and she, among a few others used to lay the most delicious eggs with bright orange yolks and an incredible flavour. I would never usually put a poached egg on to pasta but this really works. Each ingredient has its own unique flavour, yet put together the taste is fantastic.

delicious magazine's Pasta with asparagus, mint pesto and poached egg (GLORIA'S PASTA). SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS: 250g pasta, 250g asparagus spears, 4 slices pancetta, good bunch of mint leaves, 100ml good quality olive oil, 50g grated Parmesan, 2 eggs.

1. Cook 250g pasta of your choice (I prefer fresh tagliatelle) in plenty of boiling water until al dente, or according to packet instructions.

2. Add 250g asparagus spears, with the ends broken off, to the boiling pasta water for the last 2-3 minutes of the cooking time.

3. Meanwhile, grill 4 slices pancetta until crisp.

4. Put a good bunch of mint leaves into a food processor with 100ml good-quality olive oil, then blend to a puree. Stir in 50g grated Parmesan, lots of black pepper and set aside.

5. Poach 2 eggs in barely simmering water for 3-4 minutes.

6.Meanwhile, drain the pasta and asparagus, then mix in the mint pesto. Divide between 2 plates. Crumble over the pancetta, sprinkle with extra Parmesan and mint, then lift out the poached eggs with a slotted spoon and place on top.

I think it tastes better named after Gloria: unfussy, hearty, and fresh from the garden...

A less indulgent yet perhaps more satisfying way of making the most of the asparagus season is to lightly dress the asparagus with extra vergin olive oil, a thick and sweet reduced balsamic vinegar, a liberal pinch of salt and pepper and thin shavings of Parmagiano Reggiano. Best eaten soon after cooking, picked on the day for that wholesome grassy taste, or even cooled and taken to the park for a great picnic treat!

Food for thought...Perhaps try raw asparagus with wasabi??

Credits:

Check out Nick Wyke's How to Cook Asparagus feature with video: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article6140262.ece.

Original Gloria's pasta recipe from delicious MAGAZINE online: http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/Pasta_with_asparagus,_mint_pesto_and_poached_egg_411