COOKBOOKS GALORE

Thought I'd do a savoury post for a change. Bought a bag of leeks cheaply in our local market, so decided to make a tart. I used creme fraiche as I had some left over in the fridge and I made it in a 20cm loose-bottomed flan tin; it was plenty for 2 of us, with seconds for OH. For the sc pastry, 110g flour, 25g lard, 25g butter or margarine, 1 tbspn water. Am not going to insult you by telling you how to make pastry! Chill pastry for 30 mins then bake blind - 15mins at 180C/gas4, take out beans or rice etc then bake for 5 mins more at reduced temperature 160C/gas3. Filling : about 200g leeks [2 medium sized], 2eggs, 200ml creme fraiche or double cream, 1 dspn chopped thyme, 80g grated strong Cheddar cheese, about 25g butter Melt butter in a sauté pan, or any pan with a lid, Add the finely sliced leeks, cover and cook till they're soft [about 5 mins] then season them. Beat the eggs, then add the creme fraiche and thyme and beat together. Put the leeks into the bottom of p...

This recipe is another using up Christmas leftovers and this time it's some mincemeat. I wanted to make something different from mince pies and found this recipe in an old cookbook from the 70s. I'm not going to give the recipe for the shortcrust pastry - everyone has their own favourite one, or you can use Just Rol. 150g s/c pastry [that's 200g flour, 100g fat etc] 4 tbspns mincemeat 2 egg whites 75g caster sugar 75g ground almonds 15g flaked almonds a few cherries cut in 1/4s Preheat oven 190C/375F/gas 5 Grease a bun tin. Roll out the pastry, cut out with a 8cm cutter and line your bun tin. [I cut out 10 cases] Whisk the egg whites till stiff then fold in the sugar and the ground almonds. Spoon some of the mixture on top of each tart then sprinkle with some flaked almonds. Put a piece of cherry in the middle. Bake for about 20 mins, or until golden. The topping is a good contrast to the soft mincemeat. A recipe to keep.

Bought a large bag of pecans recently on offer from Julian Graves. My lovely friend Jackie brought us some maple syrup from her recent trip to Canada, so, a marriage made in heaven. It's such an easy tart to make, and if you have some pastry in the freezer, it's even quicker. Pastry: 250g plain flour 125g salted, cold butter 2 tbspn sugar 3-4 tbspn very cold water I make this in the food processor, make double and keep half, wrapped carefully, in the freezer. I let the half I'm going to use, rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. I don't like sugar in pastry, even in sweet desserts, so I don't add it. Filling: 60g melted butter 100g sugar [I used golden caster] 180ml maple syrup 2 eggs 250g pecans Preheat oven 190C/375F/gas5 Grease a rectangular tart tin. [I bought mine from Lakeland and have had lots of use out of it. It's loose-bottomed!] Roll the pastry out into the tart tin. Beat the butter, sugar and maple syrup together with an ele...

Another of my 'use up what's in the freezer and garden' recipes. We've had a good crop of onions this year, both red and white, so I decided to use up the puff pastry in the freezer and make an onion tart. I found some Cathedral Cheddar yesterday in the supermarket, so a marriage made in heaven! You need: 1 pkt puff pastry 2 big red onions sliced about 75g Cheddar cheese grated s&p dried mixed herbs 1 tbspn oil and 1 tbspn butter about 1 tspn sugar sprigs of any herbs you fancy Preheat oven 210C/gas7 and grease a baking sheet. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and fry the onions gently for about 5 mins till soft then add the sugar, s&p and dried herbs and cook for a further 10 mins. Roll out the pastry [I've packed my rolling pin so had to use a lemonade bottle. Mum would be proud of me!] and put onto baking sheet. Spoon the onions onto the pastry leaving about 2 cms round the edge. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and put the sprig...

I decided to make this tart for some friends and neighbours who are coming for lunch tomorrow. It's from a French cookery book called 'Sweet and Savoury tarts' - 'Tartes sucrees et salees' - by Margot Stephan. Serves 6-8 1 pack ready made puff pastry 6eggs 200g cooked and peeled prawns 250g smoked salmon pieces 2 tbspns creme fraiche 150g grated cheese [I used Gruyere] s&p flan tin 28cm [11"] Preheat oven gas6/200C/400F Roll the pastry out and line the tart tin. Spread the prawns and cooked salmon pieces onto the pastry. In a bowl, separate yolks and whites of 2 eggs and beat the whites till stiff. In another bowl, mix the cream in with the 2 egg yolks and the other 4 eggs. Beat together and season to taste. Then add most of the cheese and the beaten egg whites and fold together. Pour into the tin and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes.