COOKBOOKS GALORE

Thought I'd post something savoury for a change. We love quiches and this one has the flavours of Provence. Good for using up odd veg in the fridge.  Using ready made butter puff pastry makes quiche making so easy; only the veg to prepare. You need: 1 pack puff pastry, 3 eggs, 1 small pot of crême fraiche, 100g grated Gruyère cheese, 2 onions, 1 pepper, 3 tomatoes, 1 small tin tuna, drained, 10 olives, stoned and cut into slivers, Herbes de Provence, salt and pepper, green leaves to decorate preheat oven 180C/gas4                           23 cm tart tin Roll pastry out and line the tin. Slice tomatoes and put into base of the tin. Put into the fridge. Chop the onions into dice and the pepper into thin strips, then put into a large bowl. Add the tuna, beaten eggs, cream, cheese, olives, herbs, salt and pepper and mix together well. Remove tart tin from the fridge and pour in the mixture. Bake for about 4...

Sorry about the big white blank on my last post. My computer went a bit haywire that day, and even my son couldn't sort it out, so we left it! It's a tradition in our family that I make a Galette de Rois for Epiphany. They sell them in all the pâtisseries and supermarkets in France in January, with golden cardboard crowns for the person who finds the fève or china figure in the galette. I wanted to try something different, having made chocolate ones in the past as well as the usual almond ones. I decided to add one of my lemons from my tree in the greenhouse. Am amazed at how well this tree does in its big pot. It still has 8 large lemons ripening and many small ones, as well as some flowers. Not bad in Northants! Back to the Galette! It's easy to make - you need: 2 packs puff pastry [butter puff if possible] 125g ground almonds 100g caster sugar 80g butter 2 eggs 1 egg yolk 3 drops vanilla extract juice of 1 lemon Preheat oven 180C/gas4        ...

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I was asked to make a chocolate cake for a friend's get together, but I can never make up my mind which recipe to make. This is one of my favourites, and as I found a bag of ground hazelnuts in the supermarket the other day, decided to make this version, but using my bundt mould. Make sure you grease the mould thoroughly - I use the spray. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 In a bowl over simmering water melt - 150g butter and 150g dark chocolate. Take bowl off the heat and add 4 egg yolks, 175g caster sugar, 80g ground hazelnuts, 100g plain flour, another 50g dark chocolate which has been chopped up and a pinch of salt. Beat it all together. Whip the 4 egg whites till stiff then add gently into the mixture. Spoon into the tin and bake for 50 mins. For the icing: Chop 100g dark chocolate and melt it over water with 50g of butter. Pour it over the warm cake and leave to set. A good tip for chopping up the 50g ...

I made these recently for a family tea. They're delicious and the filling is rather like a brownie. I found the recipe in my scrapbook, so not sure where it originated. I bought a pack of shortcrust pastry, but you can make your own. For the filling you need -   1 egg, 100g caster sugar, 55g melted butter, 1/2 tspn vanilla extract, 20g cocoa powder, 20g ground almonds, 1/2 tspn instant coffee and a pinch of salt raspberries, crème fraîche and flaked almonds for the top.  Preheat oven 180C/gas4           Grease a 12 hole cupcake tin [or a little tart tin] . Roll pastry out thinly and cut out 12  x 4" or 10cm circles. Press gently into the holes in the tin and put in the fridge while you make the filling. Beat the egg till thick and frothy with an electric hand beater. Add the sugar and keep on beating till light and fluffy. Pour in the melted butter and vanilla, beating all the while. Fold in the cocoa, ground al...

Lovely Autumnal look to the trees around here, so thought of making something with apples. I love apple cakes, but having just made 2 for a leaving lunch, thought I'd make a tart. Having yet another sort out in a cupboard, I found a bottle of Calvados with just enough left to put in my tart! Got to be a Normandy Tart with Calvados! This is yet another recipe I got from my lovely neighbour in France, and I've made it many times for friends and family. You need: 1 pack of butter puff pastry, 4 medium apples, 160g caster sugar, 50g butter, 1/2 tspn cinnamon, 2 eggs,100ml crème fraîche, 1 tbspn Calvados and some flaked almonds Preheat oven 210C/gas7                       Grease a tart tin lightly Peel and core the apples and cut into thick slices. Melt the butter in a pan and add the apples, 30g of the sugar and the cinnamon. Cook gently for a few minutes, but be careful they don't stick to the bottom and burn! Roll the ...

This is a nice easy tart to make, but gives the impression it's luxurious. It's one of my family's favourite desserts. Here I go reminiscing again, but in France my neighbour over the road had a walnut tree, and gave me carrier bags full of them. Ahhh!  No carrier bags full, but a special offer on walnuts in a supermarket was the incentive for making this tart. For the shortcrust pastry - 250g flour, 130g butter, 2 tspn sugar, pinch salt and water. Am not going to tell you how to make pastry! Preheat oven 180C/gas4                Line a tart tin with the pastry. For the filling - 250g chopped walnuts, 2 eggs, 400ml crème fraîche, 2 tbspn salted caramel and 2 tbspn soft brown sugar Beat the eggs with the cream and the caramel. Sprinkle the nuts over the pastry, keeping a few back to decorate afterwards. Pour over the cream mixture and sprinkle on the soft brown sugar. Bake for 35 mins. Decorate with some walnuts before serving. ...

What to make for a friend coming to tea? I bought some ground and flaked almonds last week so wanted to use them. I love Bakewell tart, so searched for a recipe with similar flavours and found this one. Couldn't wait to try it as a cake. It's from the  BBC Good Food site The recipe suggests you blend it in a food processor, but as mine is broken, I used an electric hand mixer and it worked fine.  There's ground almonds in the recipe so it's quite a thick batter. You put a layer of the batter into the tin, spread the raspberries over, then spread the rest of the mixture on top. It's mentioned in the recipe that it's better to use your fingers to spread the mixture on top of the fruit, and this is good advice, as it's impossible to spread with a spoon or spatula! It has a lovely almond flavour and the fresh raspberries give another texture and aren't sweet. It does feel and taste like a Bakewell tart. My friend loved it, and took a large piece...