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.