Sweet week – take 2

Let the meringues begin!

Here's my basic recipe :

4 fl oz egg whites

225g/8oz caster sugar

As is always my mantra, get yourself sorted before you start whisking.

Your oven should be pre-heated 90fan/110c/Gas ¼ – very cool/very slow.

Cut your parchment to size for two baking sheets measuring 30x30 cms.

You'll need a plain nozzle and a piping bag.

Whisk your eggs whites until they are stiff – the old fashioned way of testing whether they are stiff enough is to tip the bowl upside down over your head – if the mixture doesn't move it's ready! Add half the caster sugar and whisk again until stiff. Fold in the remaining sugar. Your mixture is now ready for the piping bag.

The best way is to show you :

The great thing about disposable piping bags is that you can cut them to size. The end of the bag is snipped to fit your nozzle. If you look at the top of the bag you'll see it's turned over – this is deliberate. Fold the bag over your hand – it enables you to have a steady hold on your bag. Spoon the mixture into the bag until two thirds full and gently ease the mixture towards the nozzle expelling any air. Twist the top of the bag and hold and then use your other hand to steady the nozzle end.

Place a tiny blob of mixture in each corner of your baking trays and “glue” your parchment to the tray.

Holding the nozzle approximately 4cms above the tray squeeze the bag gently and then tilt the bag away in an upward direction so that you create a little kiss curl – not for nothing are these called “Kisses”.

  

Bake for 45 minutes.

Peel the kisses gently from the parchment and you can see there's no trace of where the meringue mixture has been.

This recipe will give you approximately 40 kisses. You can store them in strong ziplok type bags or in tins lined with parchment with well fitting lids. You can buy pretty glass jars with well fitting lids – like the one below. Store in a cool, dry place – NOT in the fridge and they'll keep for 2 weeks – if they last that long!

There's more to come …

Sweet week – take 2

What to do with all those egg whites!

I'm sure it hasn't escaped your notice that you used four egg yolks in the recipe for the parfait which leaves you with four egg whites going begging.

No prizes for the answer – of course it's meringues.

You need do nothing for the moment other than pop them in a box (with lid of course) suitable for the freezer – mark up the box and freeze.

Frozen egg white makes better meringue. 1 egg white is roughly equal to 1 fl oz. Gone are the days when you can measure the size of an egg by small, medium or large. The most accurate way is to weigh the whites. Once defrosted keep your egg whites at room temperature, your whites will whisk better.

A few notes

Your bowl should be squeaky clean – no trace of any grease at all – a glass bowl is best or stainless steel.

Did you know that egg shell attracts egg yolk. There's no need to fiddle with a spoon.

Whisk your whites until firm but not dry, with a sheen on them.  Then add half your caster sugar. The longer they are whisked the better, to really stiff peaks, 5 minutes is no problem at all. Anything added will loosen the mixture. Add remaining sugar and FOLD in DON'T knock the air out of your meringues, under fold rather than over.

Always use baking parchment, it has a silicone finish on both sides.

Consider using disposable piping bags – they are available in a roll. “Get a grip disposable piping bags” available from Lakeland – www.lakeland.co.uk £9.99 for a roll of 50.

Happy piping!

Sweet week – take 2

Pitfalls with the Parfait?

… or what the recipe doesn't say.

Never let it be said that I don't have your best interests at heart.

The recipe is described as “easy/prepare ahead/freeze” but it isn't as helpful as it could be – here's my contribution.

Grease your loaf tin with a drop of vegetable oil – then line it with clingfilm – the film will stay where it's put, ready for the parfait.

Mixing butter and egg yolks is not the easiest of methods – they have a tendency to split – or curdle – or turn into scrambled egg – whatever you want to call it.

To avoid the curdle, cream the butter on its own. Add a little of the cooled melted chocolate and gently mix, then add one yolk at a time and combine well. Continue adding a little chocolate with each yolk added until all 4 are mixed with the butter and chocolate.

Keep your After Eight mints in the fridge – it makes them much easier to chop – and less messy. The mints should be chopped as finely as possible.

Flustered and recipe gone to pot? Got side tracked, the door bell rang and the rest is history – your melted chocolate that was supposed to be cooling is a thing of the past and is now a solid block. Take a breath.

Boil a kettle and carefully place in a bowl large enough to take the bowl containing the set chocolate – not too much, remember you are going to sit the chocolate bowl in the other so that the boiling water can warm the set chocolate. Be patient, after a couple of minutes you'll see the edges of your chocolate melting and glossy. Very gently, turn the chocolate over so that it can begin to melt evenly, after another couple of minutes you'll be able to gently work the chocolate so that it's ready to use.

Similarly if your whipped cream has been deserted (couldn't resist) for a short while it'll be fine to use provided you've not added the alcohol.

When you're ready to rock and roll slice the portions whilst the parfait is beginning to defrost – it will be too soft if you leave it 30 minutes and use a large cooks knife with a straight blade – do not use a slicing motion cut your portions slowly but firmly. If you don't chop your mints as finely as possible then the knife will catch on the mints and you won't get a neat serving.

All is not lost!

Sweet week – Take 2

Parfait – perfect!

I know, I know it's a really lame title but I couldn't resist the obvious French/English thing. As I'm sure you're only too aware a parfait can be a dessert mousse as in the following recipe – it can also be a mousse-like mixture of chicken, duck or goose liver as in Mousse de foies de volaille (chicken liver mousse) – check out Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child et al – it's truly the best ever....sorry, I digress as usual!

Here's a dessert Parfait I found in Woman&Home that I think might make the grade.

Chocolate and mint parfait

250g dark mint chocolate

50g unsalted butter, room temperature

4 egg yolks

300ml whipping or double cream

3 tbsp brandy

150g After Eight mints, chopped

450g loaf tin, lined with clingfilm

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir to combine and set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk the butter and egg yolks until creamy then whisk in the melted chocolate.

In a separate bowl whip the cream into soft peaks and stir in the brandy. Gently fold in the chocolate mixture and After Eights. Spoon into the loaf tin and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Take out of the freezer 30 minutes before serving.

Here's the finished product :

Verdict :

I'm not a lover of alcohol in anything other than white wine in savoury dishes like risotto or a sauce – it should be in a glass! However the brandy in this parfait is really subtle and it should definitely be there – credit where it's due!

If this perfect parfait has piqued your curiosity can I suggest you read the next piece before you attempt to make it – I hope you'll find it helpful.

The humble homity.

I said previously I was a potato girl. What follows is, without doubt, the best potato dish I've ever used – Homity Pie.

The pie is thought to have appeared during WWII probably invented by the Land Girls using what little ingredients they had around. I first came across it years ago in Denby, Derbyshire where the pottery of the same name is still going - it has a great café where they still serve it. Check out www.denbyvisitorcentre.co.uk. (To avoid disappointment, if you intend to visit call ahead if you want to sample Homity Pie – they don't serve it every day). Eventually I plucked up the courage and phoned the café and asked how they made it – here's my take.

Homity Pie

Pastry case

200g/8oz plain wholemeal flour

100g/4oz unsalted butter

pinch of baking powder

cold water to bind

Filling

6 large jacket potatoes, cooked, peeled and diced

1lb onions

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

5 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley

(3 for the filling, 2 for the topping)

300g/12oz grated cheese – 200g/8oz mature cheddar, 100g4oz Gruyere mixed

(200g/8oz cheese for filling, 100g/4oz for the topping)

3 cloves of garlic, crushed (or garlic paste)

Salt and black pepper

For the pastry case, use a food processor if you have one, pop the flour, baking powder and butter and blitz until breadcrumbs. Add a drop of ice cold water and pulse, gently, until the pastry comes together (do not over overdo it). Tip the pastry out onto a sheet of clingfilm, using the film gather the pastry together into a ball and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Grease your pie dish.

Roll out your pastry, line your dish and refrigerate again until you are ready to bake.

Place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Saute the onions and garlic in the oil and cool, then add to the potatoes. Season well. Add the cheese and parsley.

Tip the filling into the pastry case and pack tightly – it will look as if you've too much filling – the tighter you pack, the better it will be. Mix the remaining cheese and parsley together and sprinkle over the top.

Place in a pre-heated hot oven (190fan/210c /gas mark 7) for 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes. It should be golden brown.

This recipe will give you 12-16 portions – depending on how big you like them – it is filling.

You can of course scale down the recipe and halve the quantities – my two pennyworth is that it freezes well, so, in the unlikely event there are leftovers, you can save any left over for another day. I can only speak as I find – it will vanish!

My final tip – in the past I've made and lined my pastry base and frozen it, as is. When required, pull out of the freezer, pack tightly with the filling and bake.

You'll love it.

Here it is!

The Mazurian Potato Marjoram Pie smelt absolutely delicious as it was cooking.

I should say that I made a vegetarian version so no lardons or bacon.

Here's a couple of photos, one before the oven, one after.

The quantities given in the recipe serve 8. As you can see I made two pies i.e. 2 x 1lb loaf tins which turned out really well – she says – we'll see.

Now for the nitty-gritty stuff.

The recipe didn't actually say peel the potatoes before grating so I didn't. You'll notice that the recipe mentions “if the potatoes are watery, then you'll need to squeeze out some of the excess water”. How messy will it be to have a large bowl of grated potato that may or may not need wringing out!

ere's my tip. Use a clean tea towel to line a large mixing bowl so that it drapes over the sides of the bowl. As you grate your potato tip it into the tea towel until you've finished grating. Gather up the tea towel and lift gently from the bowl – you'll see that water has already drained through the tea towel. Twist the towel to release more water, then tip it away and wipe the bowl dry. Tip the grated potato from the towel into the bowl and continue.

When the pie came out of the oven it struck me immediately of a cross between Rosti and a Hash Brown. I'm a potato girl in whatever form so something new to try is fine by me – can't wait for supper time.

Here it is, the pie ready to serve.

Can't say I'm thrilled with the result. The potato filling is grey and unappetising and whilst the taste isn't bad it's not as good as I'd hoped. For me a recipe should be as complete as it can – if you want someone to invest their hard earned dosh then there should be as much information as possible to make life easy for the cook.

Back to the drawing board ...

P.s. On the plus side, as someone who has both English and American recipes, this book is good - it “speaks” both languages i.e. it gives you varieties of potatoes available i.e. Maris Piper and Yukon Gold and talks about double cream and heavy.

Another new addition …

… to the Library

I've always got a list of cookery books I'd like to add to my collection. There have been two recently, one I've already mentioned. Here's the other - “Polska New Polish Cooking” by Zuza Zak. Everywhere I looked and listened it came highly recommended.

As is always my routine – and delight – I go through the book, page by page, marking anything I like the look of ready for further investigation.

At first glance this looks like a lovely book and here's the first recipe that took my eye.

Mazurian Potato Marjoram Pie

1.5kg potatoes – Maris Piper or King Edward

150g bacon lardons or finely chopped bacon

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 onions, very finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 eggs, separated

1 tbsp plain flour

3 tbsp double cream

1 tbsp dried Marjoram

salt, white and black pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 180c/160fan/Gas 4.

Grease a 2lb loaf tin.

Grate the potatoes as finely as you can. If the potatoes are watery, then you'll need to squeeze out some of the excess water. Place the grated potato in a large bowl.

Fry the lardons or bacon in a frying pan over a medium heat until they release their fat and turn crispy then set aside. Add the oil to the frying pan and fry the onions for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes. Allow both to cool for 5-10 minutes before adding to the grated potato.

Beat the egg whites until soft and fluffy and then add the egg yolks and beat together until combined. Stir the eggs into the grated potato mixture then add the flour and cream.

Add the marjoram and season the mixture with a large pinch of salt and both the peppers. As the bacon is salty you need only add 2 pinches of salt. However if you're going to make a veggie version and substitute the bacon for mushrooms then you may want to add more.

Tip the mixture into your prepared dish. The depth of the babka needs to be at least 8cm (3cm) and bake in the oven for 50 mins to 1 hour. It's ready when the top is golden and crisp on the top.

Hold that thought!

A Birthday Treat …

… out for lunch with our great friends Shirley and John to VesuviO – part of The Sharnbrook Hotel, Park Lane, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LX. Yippee – no cooking tonight!

It went something like, Special Garlic Mushrooms for two, Antipasto Misto and a garlic pizza bread with cheese. The guys scrutinised the wine list and after much deliberation decided to indulge and ordered a carafe of the red house wine and a glass of prosecco for Shirley.

Our mains were Branzino Al Forno – oven baked seabass fillets over lyonnaise potatoes with roasted Mediterranean vegetables and sugo pomodoro x 2, Salmone Al Forno – oven baked fillet of salmon over a bed of asparagus tips in a garlic butter and white wine served with sauté potatoes and finally an 8oz fillet steak served with seasonable vegetables.

It looked good when served. Sadly what followed wasn't.

Round one - when I lifted my salmon fillet to get to the asparagus tips it was not good news. The tips were inedible, to use the word “soft” would be kind. I'm not generally a complainer but I couldn't hide them so I asked the waitress to bring me a side plate and asked her to wait whilst I removed the tips and asked her to return them and bring me carrots instead. I can't help but be embarrassed although I'm not really sure why!

Round two - by this time my husband had tucked into his fillet steak – it looked charred on arrival but I'm sat across the table so really couldn't see too closely. My only observation would be that it looked too big for a fillet. The first half of the steak was well done and only in the middle was it vaguely pink so definitely not medium. This is not going well.

Round three – after much persuasion he sent the steak back – I should mention here that John used to be a butcher and “knows his onions”.

Round four – out came the chef carrying a tea plate with another raw “fillet” steak. No thank you that does not look like fillet. The chef was not pleased and returned to the kitchen.

Round five – back came the chef carrying what was left of the whole “fillet”. I've never seen a fillet of beef so large – it looked like it came from a woolly mammoth. The fillet still had its outer plastic wrapping which had been peeled back in order to cut the steaks. I can't say for certain that it had been frozen but that would be my guess. By now we were definitely losing the will and the chef was clearly unhappy that we'd had the affront to criticise the fillet. At £23.95 you bet!

Needless to say the only person who ordered dessert was my husband who was hungry.

In fairness the seabass was excellent and the wine too.

I'm not sure that a birthday lunch costing £103.25 was a good deal or not – it would have been £127.20 had we paid for the steak.

I don't think we'll be rushing back!

P.s. I should never have said “yippee – no cooking tonight”.

Sweet week - The lemon curd dilemma …

… by which I mean do you make your own or do you buy it? Me – both.

Over the years I've stood diligently stirring until the mixture thickens. Then came the microwave oven – hurray!

I like to think of the following recipe as a sort of “half way house”. Like most of us these days it's really a time management issue.

Making Microwave Lemon Curd

115g/4oz butter, cubed

Finely grated rind and juice

of three large lemons**

225g/8oz caster sugar

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Put the butter, lemon rind and juice in a large microwave-proof bowl. Cook on high for 3 minutes.

Add the sugar to the bowl and stir for 1 minute until it has almost dissolved. Return to the microwave and cook on 100% power for 2 minutes, stirring every 1 minute.

Beat the eggs and the yolk together, then whisk into the lemon mixture, a little at a time.

Cook on medium (40% power), for 10-12 minutes, whisking every 2 minutes, until the curd thickens.

Ladle into hot sterilized jars, cover and seal. When cool, store in the refrigerator. Use within 2 months.

N.B. Microwaves vary.

This recipe is based on an 800 watt version. For microwaves with a different wattage, adjust cooking times as follows, 900 watt – subtract 10 seconds per minute. 850 watt, subtract 5 seconds per minute. 750 watt, add 5 seconds per minute. 700 watt, add 10 seconds per minute.

**If you don't have fresh lemons you can use lemon juice and omit the rind. As a guide for juice 4 tbsp of juice is equivalent to 1 and a half lemons.

However, if you are going to buy lemon curd – try Marks & Spencer Sicilian - £2 for 325g. Hand on heart it's the best I've ever used and a jar is a permanent fixture in my pantry. It's expensive but worth every cent. Those of you who have been following the blog will know I don't recommend you spend your hard earned dosh on a product unless it delivers.

P.s. It's also great spread on toast!

Sweet week - Pudding or cake?

Here's the solution – one recipe and you can choose whether you make individual sponge puddings or muffin size cakes. Here's Sutherland or Castle Puddings.

Most of us have heard of pound cake – in other words recipes using equal weights of ingredients. The first mention I can find is in “Eliza Acton – Modern Cookery for Private Families” - first published in 1845 and includes this recipe.

More recently it's mentioned in “Pride and Pudding – The History of British Puddings ...” by Regula Ysewijn.

Castle Puddings

butter for greasing

200g softened unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

4 large eggs

200g self raising flour

1.5 tsps baking powder

zest of 1 small lemon

jar of lemon curd

Pre-heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

I used dariole moulds measuring 6cms x 6cms and made 12 individual puddings. You could use muffin tins for a smaller cake.

Grease your moulds – I find that using a disposable glove works well – you don't finish up with butter everywhere. You'll need a disc of baking paper for each of the bases. This is a bit fiddly but worth the effort – can be done in advance. Alternatively if you are a jam maker and have a supply of the greaseproof discs you could adapt to suit your moulds.

Using your electric mixer whisk together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy – whisk thoroughly. Add the zest of lemon and then the eggs, one at a time, mix well. Fold in the flour.

Place one teaspoon of lemon curd into each dariole mould before adding your mixture to 2/3^rd full.

Place the puddings in a deep baking dish. TAKE CARE – pour hot water into the dish halfway up the sides of the puddings. Cover with foil and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes – check after 40 with your tester – it should come out clean.

Allow the puddings to cool. You can freeze them. If you want to microwave them then after defrosting you'll need to remove from the dariole moulds.

Serve with whatever ticks your box – custard or ice cream will do very nicely. Regula Ysewijn's suggestion is clotted cream!

P.s. My personal tip – if you decide to make muffin size cakes then use muffin cases – you don't have to butter them, just place the lemon curd into the case and add the mixture. When cooked and cooled just peel back the case and tip upside down onto your serving plate – no lemon curd will be wasted, left in the bottom of the muffin tin – a lemon upside down cake.

A little something to lighten the gloomy, depressing days of winter!

Sweet week - Hats off …

… to “delicious.” magazine January 2017.

I mentioned Waitrose Food January 2017 previously - now it's the turn of “delicious”.

On catching up with my reading I came across their suggestion for an easy treat, which I also made for class.

Malteser Brownies

200g unsalted butter

200g dark chocolate – 70% cocoa solids or as

near to as possible

3 large eggs

200g golden caster sugar

50g plain flour

100g Maltesers

Extra Maltesers, crushed to decorate

Heat the oven 170c/150fan/Gas 3.5. Line a 20x20cm brownie tin with non stick paper. Put the butter and chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water – make sure the bowl isn't touching the water!

Meanwhile in a large mixing bowl combine eggs and caster sugar. When the chocolate mixture has melted stir it into the egg mixture and add the flour and Maltesers. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 40 minutes until the top has developed a crust but the mixture still wobbles slightly. Leave to cool in the tin, then chill for 4 hours. Slice into squares and serve topped with the crushed Maltesers.

Makes 16. Can be made 24hrs in advance and kept in the fridge, unsliced.

Alternatively cool and wrap in cling film and freeze for up to 2 months.

Here are the photos :

By the way – a few seconds on medium in a microwave will give you a warm gooey squidgy brownie – serve with ice cream – bang goes the diet – cut the brownies into small, almost bite size pieces – it might help!

Congrats delicious magazine!

Sweet week … Grandad Jack's tea loaf

My mate Shirl recently made a tea loaf which was delish. Shirl's tea loaf triggered a memory.

Many moons ago I used to cook for my Grandad and take him ready-meals when I went to visit. He was old school and, apart from a shot of whisky in his tea (he swore it was medicinal – he may have had a point – I never remember a doctor visiting) he loved fruit cake.

So, here's the tea loaf I used to make for him :

Grandad Jack's Tea Loaf

450g/1lb mixed fruit placed in large mixing bowl

soak in a mug of tea overnight – one teabag

the next day, add :

2 mugs of self raising flour

1 mug of soft light brown sugar

2 large eggs – beaten

mix thoroughly

Optional – 225g glacé cherries – add after mixing

Pre-heat oven 140fan/160c/Gas 3.

Bake for 2 hours – turn the tea loaves after 1 hour. Test with a skewer or cake tester which should be clean when removed.

I'm going to state the obvious – this is not a high falutin fancy bake – it does what it says on the loaf tin – tip it all in, mix well and hey presto. However choose the correct size mug – I can hear you - “a mug is a mug is a mug” err, no – have a look at your mug mountain. For the avoidance of doubt the measurements of the one I used are 9cms ish high and 8cms diameter. Even though you are using a mug and not scales, it's still a measure so make a note of the particular one you choose.

You'll get enough mixture for 2 x 1lb cakes. Treat yourself to cake liners – for two reasons – your tins will last longer and, more to the point, you get a professional looking loaf.

 

You could be really decadent and add butter. These tea loaves freeze well too.

I've made them forever. You might have noticed that there's no fat so if you're on a low fat diet it could be a winner – don't forget though it does contain sugar so don't think of it as a green light to stuff the lot - nice try!

P.s. If you don't like ordinary tea bags you could use a herbal alternative – any fruit variety would work well.

Revisited …

… the orzotto which I mentioned in July last year.

You may remember that orzo is actually pasta - despite it looking exactly like arborio rice. The difference though, is that orzotto does not involve masses of time and effort to produce, so is perfect for a mid week supper. The original version did not include white wine or parmesan cheese so here's the revised, richer version.

Orzotto - revisited

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

260g orzo pasta

425ml chicken stock (or vegetable)

75ml dry white wine

2 tbsps lemon juice

200g frozen petit pois

2 tbsp fresh pesto

bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

75g parmesan cheese, grated

salt and black pepper

extra pesto and slices of lemon to serve

extra grated parmesan to serve

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for 2/3 minutes. Add the dry white wine and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in orzo and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the stock all at once. Simmer and stir occasionally for 7/8 minutes until nearly cooked. Stir in the lemon juice and the frozen peas. Simmer for a minute and then add the parmesan cheese and continue to summer for 2 minutes until the peas are cooked then add the pesto and the parsley.

Season to taste and serve with extra pesto, a squeeze of lemon and parmesan cheese to sprinkle.

Here are a couple of additions – add prawns, obviously defrosted.

You know how I'm always banging on about slow cooking a whole chicken – here's where it comes into its own. I slow cook and freeze a chicken, divided into portions as required - breasts, legs, wings etc., and the stock too. I cannot tell you how useful this is.

On class night I served the orzotto topped with slices of slow cooked chicken breast. How difficult is it to pull a chicken breast (or two) out of the freezer mid week?

It's just the job any time but is particularly comforting at this miserable time of year.

I'm sure a risotto purist wouldn't be terribly complimentary and be able to tell the difference but mid week - with little or not time to cook - who cares.

By popular request …

… came the next appetiser Parmesan biscuits which I've served a time or two for friends – these biscuits are perfect to serve with drinks. It also seemed like a good idea to include the biscuits since when making the dough it does look like a little piece of magic!

Parmesan biscuits

Makes 25-30

100g cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch salt

pinch cayenne pepper

1 heaped tsp mustard powder

50g finely grated mature cheddar cheese

50g finely grated parmesan, plus extra to decorate

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 180c/160fan/Gas 4.

Place the butter and flour into a food processor with the salt, cayenne, mustard powder and cheeses. Process together then pulse the mixture in short spurts until you notice the mixture coming together. It will eventually bind without the need for egg or water. Tip the mixture onto a sheet of cling film and use the cling film to bring it together into a round. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Leaving longer will do no harm.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pastry thinly. Cut out the biscuits in shapes to suit the occasion. Lay them on a greased or non stick baking tray – 2cm apart. You'll need two trays.

Brush the surface with egg and sprinkle over a little of the finely grated parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Use a palette knife to ease the biscuits off the tray and place on a rack to cool. They will keep for a few days – good luck with that!

Thank you Simon Hopkinson – you're a genius!

It does exactly what is says on the tin and here's what they look like :

I promise you you'll never make cheese straws again – not that there is anything at all wrong with cheese straws, she says, hurriedly. These biscuits are just beyond delicious but the “parmesan on the top of the biscuit” is they are so easy to make – sorry for the bad, bad pun but “cherry on the top” didn't work somehow!

It just so happens …

… that I've got a loaf of soda bread in my freezer which will do very nicely for the base of the goats' cheese toasts. I know that the point of the recipe is to encourage you to preserve your own lemons but I also happen to know that Waitrose is the place where I can buy preserved lemons in a jar and good ones too. For those who don't want to preserve their own I can highly recommend Belazu Lemons - £2.13 for 350g – 220g drained.

If you look at the page in the magazine (p.67) you'll see that the home-made jar of lemons is bright lemon in colour. If you buy a jar then you'll notice two things – their colour is dull and the fruits are smaller. To show what I'm waffling on about, here's a photo of both :

It just goes to show that a last minute decision can pay off, the “toasts” went down a storm. They are quick and easy to prepare and the dressing is just yum!

Here's what they look like :

I know I've used this expression in the past but, now and again it really pays to fly by the seat of your pants. I would never normally produce any recipe in class without it being tried and tested but these little beauties looked so tempting I couldn't resist!

Well done Waitrose Food.

Fast forward … back to reality!

Oh well, nothing lasts forever and the holiday is over – thank you my friend for the best time!

It really is back to reality and post Christmas I'm just catching up with all my reading. It's also coming up to class time again – it'll be good to “get back in the saddle” as they say.

I know that my students will be suffering from winter blues – fed up with icy cold mornings and defrosting the car.

With that in mind here's what I've decided to do :

Parmesan biscuits

Orzotto – revisited

Malteser Brownies

Whilst ploughing through all the reading stuff I also came across Goats' cheese toasts with preserved lemons, mint and raisins” taken from Waitrose Food January 2017. It gives an easy recipe for preserving lemons and then the recipe for the “toasts”. It looks so inviting and simple I decided to add an extra appetiser with, as you would expect from me, a tweak or two along the way. Here's the recipe :

Goats' cheese toasts

2 preserved lemons quartered

1½ tbsp raisins

pinch crushed chillies

2 tbsp olive oil

125g soft rindless goats' cheese

1 tsp honey

3 tbsp full fat natural yogurt

3 large slices of sourdough bread, toasted

and halved

sprinkle of ground cumin

Cut the flesh from the preserved lemon and discard. Cut the rind into thin strips or finely chop. Stir in the raisins, chilli and 1 tbsp oil.

Mash the goats' cheese in a separate bowl with a fork. Add the honey, yogurt and remaining 1 tbsp oil, stir until smooth. Spread onto the sourdough toast and top with the lemon mix. Sprinkle with ground cumin and serve.

From Waitrose Food January 2017.

The original recipe uses ½ tsp cumin seeds and a handful of chopped mint to garnish.

Lets see how it goes!