Stollen

Stollen is a traditional rich Christmas bread eaten in Austria and Germany.  It is full of dried fruits and candied peel with hidden marzipan centre topped with a drizzle of glace icing.  The way the yeast dough is rolled around the marzipan log is intended to remind us of the cloths that swaddled baby Jesus in the manger.  The usual [...]

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Last Minute Mincemeat & Mince Pies

Mincemeat is a traditional sweetened filling which has altered down the centuries.  It no longer contains minced meat (originally mutton or pork), of course, but most mincemeat includes shredded beef or vegetarian suet.  Mincemeat is relatively easy to make, but sometimes time is tight and this is a useful shortcut.  This is an easy version for improving on [...]

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Fried Plantain

I learned how to make fried plantain by following instructions given by a friend from the Caribbean.  It’s such an easy recipe you might wonder why it is here, nevertheless I think it is worth recording.  Plantain is still fairly new and may be unfamiliar to some people: I had to find out how to cook it!  Although they are the same family, Plantain differ from the yellow dessert bananas [...]

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Hyacinth’s Salt Fish Cakes

I have eaten lots of Caribbean Salt Fish Cakes but my friend Hyacinth, originally from Jamaica, definitely makes the very best Salt Fish Cakes in E17!  They always ‘go like hot (fish) cakes’ when she brings them to church shared lunches.  One thing that makes them particularly good are that they are crispy outside, soft inside and most importantly, unlike [...]

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Pear Dappy

Some years ago the BBC Food and Drink television programme featured a dining club in the Cotswold region of the UK, where the diners sampled and then voted on a huge variety of desserts and puddings.  The Pudding Club, as it is called, is still going strong and has published two books, both of which I own. 
Apple Dappy was [...]

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Yorkshire Oatmeal Parkin

Parkin is a sticky ginger flavoured traditional regional cake from Yorkshire.   It makes an ideal sweet course to follow the mug of warming soup and sausage and onion filled rolls usually eaten round the bonfire whilst watching fireworks on November 5th.  It is ideal for packed lunches as well. 
The original recipe comes from Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course. The quantities [...]

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Tarte au Citron

One of our favourite French desserts is Tarte au Citron or French Lemon Tart and it is surprisingly easy to make.  It is one of those food items that we cannot leave France without having at least once. Tarts of varying quality can be found across France in supermarkets and patisseries and often have the word ‘Citron’ drizzled on top in chocolate or gold [...]

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Rich Coconut Dessert Cake

Since I found this recipe in late August I have made it three times, twice as a contribution at shared lunches.  It has received lots of compliments and is an ideal dessert to make as it eats well cold and can easily be made a day ahead of time. 
The recipe was adapted from one in the August 2009 issue of the [...]

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Basic Recipe: Tortilla Omelette – with Bacon, Mushroom & Spinach

Last year on holiday in the French Basque country the Spanish influence was clearly visible on the menus and in the supermarkets.  One of these was the Tortilla, sometimes called a Spanish Omelette – a Spanish word being used just over the border.  In Italy the word used for this type of dish is Frittata.  The French word is, [...]

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Raw Beetroot Salad

Mostly we boil beetroot and serve it very plain as part of a salad, with or without a splash of vinegar.  In the past I made a delicious recipe where cooked chopped raw beetroot was used as part of a beef stew (lovely – must find that recipe and do it again!). I have also seen it used, grated, as an ingredient in [...]

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