A breakfast treat

The kids wanted to take us to a fab place they'd found in Southport – only minutes from where they live in Birkdale.

First up, and most importantly, the establishment allowed well behaved dogs – gets my vote, off to a good start.

May I introduce you to Bistrot Pierre.

To say I was impressed with the décor is an understatement. I'm not going to waffle on, have a look at these photos, decide for yourself!

We chose Brioche et champignons – with or without Alsace bacon – veggie or not and Pancakes with Maple syrup, Mascarpone and fresh berries. £5.95 and £4.95 respectively.

One word – excellent. Not just the food, the surroundings speak for themselves – the staff were lovely, couldn't do enough. We'll definitely be returning.

If you're in that neck of the woods, I'd highly recommend it.

Meals on wheels!

We're off on our travels, back to the North West of the UK visiting Family for a few days.

I never go empty handed and had promised to take two firm favourites – lamb and roast potatoes.

I slow cooked lamb shanks, then stripped them into beautiful nuggets of sweet meat. I then bagged it and placed in the treasure chest.

Granddaughter Alyce is addicted to roast potatoes – I could think of worse! I par boiled Maris Piper potatoes then drained and sprinkled with semolina and shook until the semolina sticks to the potatoes. I heated rapeseed oil in a large foil roasting dish then added the potatoes, sizzling as they landed in the hot oil and then into a hot oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7 - I set my timer for 20 minutes, turned and repeated. Set them aside to cool. Divided into two strong freezer bags, clipped firmly and added to the treasure already in the chest.

Whilst out shopping I picked up a chicken - an excellent deal, not to be missed and popped it into the slow cooker when I got home. Instead of sprinkling with herbs I added whole star anise to the cavity. The following day having strained and fridged the stock I stripped the chicken, bagged and fridged the meat. The cold stock went into the treasure chest for another time.

Taking care to make a list, I now had the makings of a decent roast and I shipped the chicken too.

Delving through the freezer bag of goodies my Dil (much better than Daughter-in-Law) Chezza suggested we go get some delicious bread and make chicken sandwiches for lunch. There is an old saying, Jewish in origin I'm sure, that chicken soup is good for the soul. We now have a sandwich for the soul – I've never seen food disappear as quickly for a long time. They loved the chicken – tender, moist and full of flavour.

Very often you find that an afterthought turns into a huge hit. I'll be serving chicken sandwiches for the soul again – soon.

Roasted Veggie Stock

This does not have to be a chore, quite the reverse – think of it as therapy!

What follows will give you 2 litres of stock. Arm yourself with “pour and store” bags, suitable for liquids.

450g/1lb celery

700g/1½lbs onions

450g/1lb carrots

450g/1lb tomatoes

450g/1lb green peppers (bell peppers)

225g/8oz parsnips

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves of roasted garlic

1 bay leaf

6 whole black peppercorns

1 bunch fresh, flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

2.5litres/4pints/8fl oz water

Pre-heat oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Remove the leaves and the inner parts of the celery and set aside.

Toss the onions, carrots, tomatoes, green peppers and parsnips in the oil. Place them in a large roasting dish and onto a baking tray, into the oven and roast for approximately one hour, turn them every 20 minutes – when the onions have begun to caramelise and the veggies brown.

Place the veggies, plus the set aside celery leaves and inner bits, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, parsley and water into a large stockpot. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered until the liquid is reduced by half.

Pour the stock through a sieve, catching the stock in a large bowl or pot.

Freeze in boxes with lids, in amounts that suit you best.

If you're going to use an “off the shelf” stock, I'd use Knorr stock pots – a great product. Knorr have a new “ready to use” organic stock which comes in 300ml packs. If you wanted to be persuaded to make your own here's a comparison - the 300ml packs are on offer at the moment for £1.49 – original price £2.20. That's a lot of dosh!

A message from America …

… thoughts turn to Autumn and the Fall.

On holiday in Maine my American friend found a recipe for vegetable soup which included the making of a stock.

“Here's another question for you … considering the extra ingredients and time, is it worth it? Time v flavour. I usually use canned stock.”

Here's my reply :

I don't think there's anything wrong with using a good quality bought stock – it's whatever suits you best.

You asked about extra ingredients and time – is it worth it. The short answer is yes it is. I don't spend days in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove/hob but, if I'm around doing other stuff then it's the perfect time to make a stock. One small tip – I never move far without having my trusted kitchen timer around my neck – I'd be more than a little upset if I got distracted and burnt it!

I make a huge pot and then freeze it in practical amounts. It's not just fantastic in soup but as a base for sauces and an ingredient in other dishes too – part of our forthcoming Autumn Schedule. I roast my veggies first and then throw everything into a stock pot.

Each to their own – it's worth the effort and you produce a supply of stock for your treasure chest – just think how virtuous you'll feel.

It's funny we should be talking about soup. Today has been the coldest for three months or so – 3 degrees! Back to jeans, a shirt and a fleece.

Roasted veggie stock recipe up next.

Middle Eastern Promise

You know that I have this continuing obsession with variations of Rocky Road. The last version was earlier this year using shortbread with freeze-dried raspberry and strawberry pieces.

Here's my latest effort, using Turkish Delight cut into small squares, pistachios and apricots, both finely chopped - 150g/5oz of all three, replacing the classic Brazil nuts, glacé cherries and mini marshmallows.

If you're not familiar with the recipe then check out the Easter label where you'll also find a list of suggestions to “Design your own Rocky Road”.

I have a confession to make – I added mini marshmallows too – any true Rocky Road purist knows it has to have marshmallows!

I hope you like what you see :

An aside … this week was my regular visit to my Beautician (and friend) – hey a girl needs all the help she can get. Anyway she asked what was on the “class menu” - I always begin at the end – I'm strange that way. I didn't get any further - to say I received a rapturous reaction puts it mildly – the Middle Eastern flavours are a real hit and I had no idea so many people loved Turkish Delight – note to self for my “home-made” Christmas Gift List!

The paté report

I promised I'd report back after “A rant and a mushroom paté”.

It was class this week and I made the paté so my friend got to taste it – fingers crossed. I'm delighted to report, “it's as good as the one they've stopped making … hits the mark for sure!”.

Before we finish with paté I decided I'd include another favourite – it's another veggie recipe but even the meat eaters enjoy this despite the initial raised eyebrows. It's a great combination of flavour and texture and the fastest paté you'll ever make.

Cream cheese and cashew nut paté

1 carrot, finely grated

225g/8oz cream cheese

110g/4oz roasted cashew nuts, crushed to a rubble

not a dust!

1 tbsp of chopped chives

salt and black pepper

black olives – pitted and sliced – optional

Mix all the ingredients together, box and fridge, leave for 2 hours to firm.

Spread on whatever takes your fancy – rice cakes, gluten free cheese oatcakes, toast or even as a sandwich filling – finally my personal favourite, a toasted bagel.

I served tasters of both the patés with soda bread and they took goodie bags home too!

My work here is done.

Incandescent!

Further to my recent rant about supermarkets discontinuing products – please now replace rant with incandescent!

Whenever you hear the big shots from the big supermarkets spouting, they always utter the same mantra – “we care about our customers” yadda, yadda, yadda.

Last week I was putting the final touches to the preparation for my forthcoming class. I'd promised Arancini – aka Italian rice balls made with leftover risotto, stuffed with Taleggio cheese. I decided that I'd plate up with a balsamic glaze.

Like everyone else I take shortcuts occasionally and so added the glaze to my shopping list – guess what - one big fat gap on the shelf where it should have been. There was every form, depth and quality of balsamic vinegar known to man and then some. The assistant couldn't say whether it was discontinued or when the shelf would be re-stocked.

Actually it was immaterial since I needed the glaze there and then.

Someone should alert these people to the fact that their customers do not have the time, or the inclination for that matter, to spend 2 hours trawling around supermarkets looking for a product that they have been pushing at us for some while – food fashions clearly don't last that long these days.

What a cheek – here's my solution – make it yourself :

Balsamic Glaze

50g/2oz demerara sugar

250ml/9 fluid oz balsamic vinegar

Place the sugar and vinegar in a medium saucepan (19cms or 7½” in diameter) and heat slowly, stirring allowing the sugar to dissolve. Bring to the boil, then reduce and simmer for 20 minutes – until the glaze is reduce by half. It should coat the back of a spoon. Decant into a clean jar with a lid – fridge it.

It looks like this :

You know how they say something good comes out of something bad – oh brother it certainly does. I won't be buying balsamic glaze any more so there!

P.s. If you'd like chapter & verse on the arancini check out the Italian label - “My antidote” for the recipe and a step by step photo guide.

Making the most …

of that Miso Marinade :

Miso Roasted Chicken

Serves 3

3 chicken fillets – approximately 150g/5oz each

Miso Marinade – here's a quick reminder

3 tbsps miso paste

2 tsps soy sauce

2 tbsps mirin

1 tbsp dark soft brown sugar

Mix the ingredients thoroughly into a paste. Box and set aside. Add the marinade to the chicken an hour before roasting to give it time to infuse, use one large strong plastic food bag.

Foil tray, 23x23cms or 9”x9”

Make up the marinade - set aside and fridge it until an hour before you want to cook.

An hour before cooking place the fillets into the marinade, seal the bag and ensure that they are coated – fridge until ready to cook.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Tip the fillets and the marinade into the foil tray, cover with foil. Set your timer for 15 minutes. Place the tray on a baking sheet and into the oven. At the end of the time take out the tray, remove the foil, turn the fillets over and place back into the oven for 10 minutes.

Serve with whatever takes your fancy - go on a fridge forage or serve on top of stir fried noodles and veggies or rice if you prefer - I foraged and discovered sweet peppers and baby new potatoes and roasted them both.

Here's my dish :

Oh – I didn't use all the chicken fillet so it's in the freezer – another meal for another day.

P.s. Check out chicken fillet deals – I got 950g (2lbs approximately) – 6 fillets for £10 – great value.

The moral of this missive ...

… speed was essential here – I hadn't got the time before I went away to do anything la-di-da or fancy and I now realise the benefits – it's a win, win and oh a win.

Other than the slow cooking of the braising steak there's no work involved - the mash and turning the stock into a gravy beyond all gravies is easy, peasy.

In dividing the steak and stock in two if I haven't heard by the time I return home what the arrangements are I'll just pull out one steak and one stock for H's supper.

Then of course it might be a “sarnie situation”. H is despatched to the butchers to corner the bacon market.

We've now got it all covered. I hope you're keeping track here.

Safe journey home from Whizzer's – there's nothing quite like a mission!

Still no word about arrangements so as already mentioned I pulled out steak and stock. Lunchtime – with apologies for lateness it's an overnight stay if that's okay – of course it is. Break neck speed to the freezer retrieving remaining steak and stock.

Just the mashed potatoes and reduce the stock for gravy to do later. It's a good job I pulled out a frozen cheese sauce to go with a beautiful cauliflower – just in case. Note to self, steam the cauliflower whole, set the timer for 20 minutes then lift out and leave on several layers of of kitchen roll to enable it to drain completely.

… and breathe.

Here's the dish :

Served with cauliflower cheese and petit pois.

Verdict … “beautiful”.

Was it worth the fifteen minutes I spent prepping the braising steak for the slow cooker … you betcha!

P.s. You might want to offer your guests a spoon too, to scoop up the leftover gravy. In the North we have a less refined custom but much more satisfying – use small pieces of crusty bread to dip and mop up the remains.

Here's SPUD

… aka Shepherd's Pie Upside Down.

SPUD

Shepherd's Pie Upside Down

940g braising steak – 1kg will do it doesn't

have to be precise

980g beef stock - ditto

Glug of rapeseed oil

salt and pepper

2 x beef stock pots

salt and black pepper

I zoomed to the butchers and bought 3 x trays of cubed braising steak for £10. A good start! A little patience is required here – using a large frying pan heat the rapeseed oil, place braising steak in the pan – it should sizzle – season with salt and pepper. Don't overload the pan, brown the meat and then set aside in your slow cooker making way for the next batch and repeat until you've browned all the meat. If you insist in ramming it all into the pan it will turn grey and stew – it's not a good look.

Add a litre of water to the juices left in the frying pan, bring to the boil then add the stock pots – stir until melted – pour carefully into the slow cooker with the meat. Pop the lid on and slow cook for four hours.

Switch off, cool and then divide the stock between two “pour and store” freezer bags and divide the meat between two in strong freezer bags.

Place your treasure in your chest (freezer) to await further travel arrangements!

Have you ever …

waited ages for a bus or a train and then three come along all at once?

It's the same in our house with visitors – there must be something in the air!

I'm off to visit my Sister for a few days – after all we girls deserve a spot of retail therapy and bargain hunting.

Before I set off we do our usual “catch up, is everyone ok” call to the big kids who remind us they are away shortly, in Sussex on a mini break. They ask if they can break their return journey home and pop in to see us. Their journey home is not just around the corner – 5 hours – 270 miles approximately and that's on a good day with the wind in the right direction! That's code for food too – I say this with love since there is no greater pleasure for me than to cook for people who appreciate it and they do.

Erm, then I realise I can't be in two places at once – in particular cooking at home for lunch on Saturday or it may be an evening meal and an overnight stay. Crikey, sort this one out.

A brainwave … slow cook braising steak, freeze the steak and the stock. Boom!

I make sure I add Maris Piper potatoes to the shopping list – mashed potatoes is another good idea.

Done and done.

Fast forward – I'm now with my Sister and bringing her up to speed. I'm trying to explain how I'm going to serve the dish – keep it simple - in a large bowl so that it's easy to control. A generous portion of mashed potato and an even more generous ladle of steak and gravy - “Oh, says Whizzer (my nickname for my Sister) it sounds like an upside down shepherd's pie.”

Genius!

Nearly there!

Assembly :

Split your brioche buns and either warm in

the oven for a couple of minutes or toast lightly

Drizzle aioli on the bottom of the bun and add your

slice of coated and fried halloumi

Top with your miso roasted mushroom, add

another generous drizzle of aioli, enough so that

it oozes out – if you don't get it on your fingers and

down your chin, add more – complete with the brioche “hat”

This is what it looked like :

Ta dah!

I am my own worst critic and I loved it – Lucas and Sam were very complimentary. My best effort yet.

Miso Mushroom Burger – the marinade

Miso marinade

Serves 4

4 x Portabello mushrooms, peeled and stalks trimmed

3 tbsps miso paste

2 tsps soy sauce

2 tbsps mirin

1 tbsp dark soft brown sugar

Mix the ingredients thoroughly into a paste. Box and set aside. Add the marinade to the mushrooms an hour before roasting to give it time to infuse, use one large strong plastic food bag or divide between two.

When you're ready to cook, pre-heat your oven 150fan/170c/Gas 3.

Place your marinaded mushrooms into a foil tray and roast for 15-20 minutes.

10 minutes in to your mushrooms roasting time, heat the oil for the halloumi in a frying pan (29cms/11” diameter) using enough oil to cover the base – the pan is the perfect size for the four slices. Coat each slice of cheese both sides. Test your oil with a small piece of bread – it will sizzle when it's ready. Fry each slice for 2 minutes then turn and repeat. Keep the halloumi warm, wrapped in foil, whilst you're plating up.

In case you're not familiar with miso paste, I used brown rice miso - it is available in most large supermarkets.

Just so you know what you're looking for :

Nearly there!

The Miso Mushroom Burger - Aioli and Halloumi

Remember the two gigantic bulbs of garlic in the veggie box which I roasted and committed to the freezer? Now is the time they come into their own!

I think of Aioli as posh mayo – really it's a sauce made of garlic and olive oil. There are many variations of the sauce – the current French-Provencal version is probably closer to a mayonnaise but originally both the French and Catalan recipes don't contain egg yolks and have more garlic.

Aioli

Serves 6

2 large cloves of roasted garlic

2 egg yolks

½ tsp of Dijon mustard

½ tsp salt

60ml/2½ fl oz extra virgin olive oil

180g/6½oz rapeseed (Canola) oil

2 tbsp water

freshly ground black pepper

Blend the roasted garlic, egg yolks, mustard, salt and 2 tbsps of water in a food processor. Keep the motor running and add the olive oil, then the rapeseed oil – slowly. The sauce will emulsify to a thick, pale consistency similar to mayo. Taste for seasoning. Box and fridge, ready to use.

Spiced Halloumi

Serves 4

225g/8oz Halloumi sliced into 4 pieces

45g/2oz plain flour mix with

1 tbsp of seasoning of your choice

Rapeseed oil for shallow frying

The 225g pack will give you four portions, sliced lengthways – 8x7cms/3x3½ inches approximately. Open the pack and discard the liquid, pat the cheese dry with kitchen roll and then slice into four. Pat each slice dry, then box and fridge ready for cooking.

The seasoning for the Halloumi is your choice – a shop bought version is fine. If you'd like to try your hand at making your own check out “Halloumi – seasoning and dips to go with” for inspiration.

You'll never think of it as squeaky cheese again!

The veggie burger – the quest continues

I can't get away from the archetypal image of a veggie burger – dry as sawdust, bland, boring and the best use for it is as a frisbee!

In March this year we had the “Bazzin' Burger” made with chick peas and spices.

In my house, as the only vegetarian, if I want to try out a new recipe I wait, hoping that eventually willing volunteers appear. I've been dying to try out a new “veggie” burger for a while and hey presto my IT guru, Editor, and Nephew Lucas and his girlfriend Sam came for a visit. Perfect!

Lucas and Sam were staying over for one night. I don't get time with them often so I wanted to make the most of it. Happens to us all I know - I want to give them a delicious meal but didn't want to be away from them in the kitchen whilst they were visiting, except for half an hour pulling stuff together.

Here's my menu :

Miso Mushroom Burger et al

Serves 4

4 Brioche buns

Aioli

Spiced coated Halloumi

Miso roasted portabello mushrooms

sides

Bazzin' beetroot relish

Stick fries

The next step is to work out what could be made and prepped ahead. Aioli, the coating for the Halloumi, slicing the cheese too, the miso marinade, and the relish. Nothing major but every little helps and saves precious time.

Sounds good to me – fingers crossed!

More mornay therapy

Before I move on to other stuff, here's a variation on a theme of fish and mornay sauce. Simple and delicious, especially if you're a fish pie fan.

This recipe is structured using my usual “plan ahead” strategy.

Mornay Fish Pie

Serves 4

2 large baking potatoes – stab carefully with a

paring knife, wrap in foil and bake for 1 hour at

180fan/200c/Gas 6

Set aside to cool then slice thinly – skin on or

off – personal choice

Whilst your potatoes are baking wrap 400g/14oz of fresh

fish in foil and bake for the last 15 minutes of your

potato baking time – use a timer!

Set the fish and potatoes aside to cool until ready to assemble

Your fish can be a mixture of whatever you choose – for example, smoked haddock or cod with salmon and prawns – it's whatever floats your boat – pardon the pun. If you're using cooked peeled prawns as part of your 400g/14oz of fish don't add them until you're assembling your pie. You can buy bags of mixed pieces of fish designed for a pie if you don't want to make up your own.

Now for your therapy – the mornay sauce. Make up the sauce as given in the recipe in “Moreish Mornay”.

As I've mentioned already you can make the sauce ahead, cool box and fridge. You can freeze it too if that's more convenient.

Assembly

When you're ready to assemble, preheat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

As you know I use foil trays – in this case 24x24cms/9½x9½ inches – available from Wilkinsons if you wanted a supply – otherwise a square casserole.

Open up your foiled fish and tip it into a large mixing bowl. Break the fish into chunks, gently, then season with black pepper. If you're using cooked, peeled prawns, now is the time to add them. There will be jelly from the cooked fish – discard or include – it's all flavour and will combine with the sauce you've made. If you've not used any smoked fish then you may want to add a sprinkle of salt. Add your Mornay sauce and fold to mix, gently.

Tip the mixture into your tray or casserole.

Add the sliced cooked potatoes, add a knob or two of butter and ground black pepper. If you're feeling really decadent then sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you can make each element when convenient for you. All you have to remember is to take the sauce out of the freezer!

Probably a tad early for Autumn/Fall comfort food but who cares. I made the pie for a class recently despite the heat. I'd cooked the potatoes and fish in the cool morning kitchen so it actually worked like a dream and my students had a ready made supper to take away!

Mornay moments – photo guide

These photos show a generous supper.

Place the fish in the bottom of the bowl and add a generous layer of potatoes

Add a generous drizzle or two of mornay sauce, “Jackson Pollock” style

Finally garnish with the griddled asparagus

The verdict … “****** wonderful”!

Hmm, a result and a recipe that will be repeated.

P.s. Feeling adventurous?

Try garnishing the dish with samphire instead of asparagus. Samphire is a sea vegetable and there are two types, marsh and rock. Marsh samphire is very similar to fine asparagus and is the most palatable of the two. Be warned, it is, not surprisingly, very salty so try steaming for a couple of minutes. It is delicious and a perfect partner for fish, which reminds me – you'll find it on the fresh fish counter!

Smoked haddock and mornay sauce

It's traditional, certainly in the UK, to put fish with parsley sauce – can't say I'm enthusiastic. I immediately think of cod in parsley sauce which in turn makes me think of invalid food.

If you'd like an idea for a lunch, or a supper main course here's my latest.

As is usually the case with me, less is more - there are four elements to this dish – two of which can be made ahead.

This recipe is based on a light lunch for two or a generous supper for one.

Fish and Chips – sort of

300g/12oz of new potatoes, cooked and peeled

drizzle of rapeseed (Canola) oil

200g/8oz of smoked haddock – in two pieces

Mornay sauce – half the recipe given previously

110g/4oz of extra fine asparagus tips, snapped and then

trimmed to a similar size

Cook and peel the potatoes ahead. Cool and then cut into quarters, set aside.

Make the sauce ahead, cool and fridge.

Pre-heat oven 170fan/190c/Gas 5

This dish is based on frozen smoked haddock, cooked straight from the freezer. Clearly you can use fresh fish – the recipe is for speed and so long as it's good quality why not – if you have heaps of time to pop to the Fishmonger and buy fresh, even better.

Frozen smoked haddock will take 30 minutes. Place your fish in a foil tray or a small casserole. Add a drop of water and a knob of butter. On a separate baking sheet cut your potatoes into quarters, add a drizzle of rapeseed (Canola) oil, toss to cover and roast at the same time as the fish. Set your timer for 20 minutes.

Re-set your timer for the remaining 10 minutes cooking time. Warm a griddle pan for the asparagus – oil the asparagus, not the pan – all that will happen if you oil the pan is that the oil will sink into the grooves and will burn.

Warm the mornay sauce, gently on a low heat. Warm a large bowl too!

Here it is ...

Moreish mornay

I've always loved the combination of fish and cheese. Some might say contentious – you won't get seafood and cheese served together in an Italian restaurant - some might say old fashioned!

My first encounter with a mornay sauce was in the 70s, working in Mayfair the “birthday treat” was to go to “Wheelers” the ultimate in fish restaurants. It was there that I first tasted cod in mornay sauce. A memorable experience.

Mornay sauce is French – usually enriched with egg yolks. My version is without the egg yolks. I realise this is not for the purists but I want a sauce that I can freeze and uncooked eggs ain't such a good idea. I have not received any complaints.

Here's it is :

Mornay Sauce

Serves 4-6

40g unsalted butter

40g plain flour

600ml of milk – I use semi skimmed

150g mature Cheddar cheese

(or a combination of Cheddar and gruyere)

salt and black pepper

½ tsp Dijon mustard - optional

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook gently for a minute, stirring – make sure you don't brown the mixture. Gradually add the milk whisking constantly and eventually bring to the boil, whisking until it's smooth and thick. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the cheese, mustard and season. I'd taste before you add salt – there's salt in the cheese – adjust accordingly.

I've found two theories of origin – the first, it was named for a 17^th century French diplomat, Philippe de Mornay, seigneur du Plessis-marly. The other is that it was created by Chef Joseph Voiron of Paris, naming the sauce after his eldest son, known as Mornay.

I like useless bits of information – you never know what trivia questions are going to pop up when you're quizzing!

Moving on …

A pandowdy post script

I received an email from my friend in the USA who had looked at the pandowdy blog. It raised an interesting question for her, which was “the apple pie recipe requires “black treacle” - I have no idea what that is”.

I can help - “black treacle” is “molasses”.

Here's what the can looks like :

It then occurred to me that the USA uses Imperial measurements and not metric as we do in the UK - if you're not familiar with both it can be a nuisance and would put you off a recipe because you don't have the time or inclination to translate.

As an example, my friend talked about a hamburger recipe she'd come across and so I mentioned that mine was on the same USA link “On location in SC – Friday night is burger night!” The recipe calls for 500g of minced beef, pork or turkey.

Here's a quick translation of the metric measures given for the burger :

1 kilo is equal to 2lbs 2oz,

for a recipe requiring 500g (½ kilo) you'll need 1lb 1oz of minced meat

and the 5x100g burgers equates to 5 quarter pounders

The UK introduced the metric system in 1965 so for those of a certain age – which includes me - we'd already been taught the Imperial system. There are many who still stick with Imperial in the UK. It messes with your head to effectively have two systems.

There are occasions when cooking needs to be exact – you can fly by the seat of your pants generally speaking – a sprinkle of this and a dash of that (note to self when you're flying by said pants try and remember what you've sprinkled and dashed!). However where baking is concerned this is an exact science and you have to be precise … unless of course you're like my Nana who never used a set of scales in her life and made the best pastry in the world!

This might help … strictly speaking an ounce is equal to 28 grams (g) - consequently the practise is to use either 25g or 30g. I use 25g as my rule of thumb – it's entirely up to the individual - both are correct – using 25g to an ounce makes the sums easier for me.

Note to me – give Imperial and Metric measures in recipes!