Today's talk for Bristol Area Stroke Foundation.

And thanks to all who came up to ask questions and were enthusiastic (hopefully over the thingsI had made!)I have been asked to put the recipe for the savoury cake here, so this is it ..translated from a French cookery book FETA AND SUNDRIED TOMATO CAKE.
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180 gms of plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 eggs
100gms of grated Gruyere cheese
200 gms of Feta cheese 
4 pieces of sundried tomatoes
10cl of  olive oil
10cl of milk
5 cl of vegetable oil
2 or 3 handsfull of fresh herbs. I used basil and chives,but you could use parsley equally  well
pinch of salt  and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 180o
In a bowl sift together the flour and baking powder
In another bowl beat together the eggs,oils and the milk Season, but not too much ,as the cheeses are salty
Mix the  liquid ingredients into the flour ,turning the mixture delicately(French translation!) Cut the feta into small pieces,and add  them plus the Gruyere and herbs to the mix, until it is well blended
then put all entire lot into a loaf tin that you have already butered and floured inside.
Cook for around 50 minutes, or until a skewer piercing the cake ,comes out dry and clean.
Let the cake cool before turning it out.
I sometimes  serve this with drinks before a meal,as it cuts easily into small pieces. Good served warm as well.

I was not ENTIRELY happy with the rest of the things I cooked, as the Swiss Roll  was  left in the oven a fraction over time, and I couldn't possibly roll it without it cracking, so I just filled it ,and cut it into small pieces so that people could taste.  Also I made tiny sweet biscuits ,Banana bread and some caramelised red onion and thyme pizzas except the flour I used was too grainy, so I made more dough,but fogot to tell them that I had made the dough as well, might have seemed like boasting.
However it was good to show the things that I use to help me in my cooking,and I just hope that it will inspire others to cook as well. 
THERE IS LIFE BEYOND SANDWICHES !

Frugal cooking!

Well, I came home with a chicken,which the butcher split in two as it's easier for me to manage. Having roasted half  with some bacon, i wondered how many meals I could get from the half.
1. had the wing and a bit of breast with some salad for supper.
2. Stripped the flesh from the carcass,and made stock ,with some added vegetables I had a nourishing soup
3. Used the breast meat for a Goulash,as I  had a friend for lunch on the Sunday
4 Having made myself a dish of plain green lentils for Saturday evening( adding some excellent Cortonse olive oil, some chilli flakes and a little salt) it was absolutely delicious, but there was quite a lot left over, so I mixed them with the rest of the chopped up meat from the chicken,added some fried onions,parsley,and again chilli flakes, you must realise by now that i'm a chilli addict!  Formed tham into patties got 4, and then put them into the fidge to firm up. Then egg and breadcrumbed them, and fried  2 of them in a little oil . Eaten with a tomato salsa ,quite nice ,but could have done with a bit more flavour. In total, 6 meals were made from half a free range chicken, not bad I say!
Before we had the Goulash on Sunday, I made a small starter by cutting through some ripe figs in a cross shape, filling the cavity with goat's  cheese,and then wrapping the figs in Parma Ham, with a drizzle of oil over the top,and in the hot  oven to cook for about 15 minutes  Very easy,and she was impressed....

Spiced Beetroot,and other things

My time in Somerset with the family.

As so often when I'm there for a few days, it becomes a "cookathon". Started off by making chocolate brownies~(without a recipe ,so had to remember it ) And Tess's scales only work in Grammes, not ounces,so there had to be some quick calculations. All was well, thank goodness,and they had almost all gone by the time I left for home yesterday morning. Then we did a tagine of chicken for supper, with chickpeas and loads of vegetables from her garden. The next day, having visited one of the TWO local butchers in the villlage, I did a steak and kidney casserole,with the help of Douglas,now aged 13,who was on prepping duty,narrowly avoiding his fingers while he dissected the lamb's kidneys. The whole thing  went
into the bottom of the Aga for around 4 hours ,cooking very slowly.A problem for me, as I cannot lift a heavy cast iron casserole dish to save my life, thank goodness for grandchildren.
Then Tess dug up all the beetroot left in the garden, and we started on making spiced beetroot....The village only had small bottles of vinegar, so the whole process was somewhat expensive! The malt vinegar was put to infuse with bruised root ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, mustard seeds instead of Allspice berries (none in the country!)and the beetroot were simmered  for around an hour and a half,as they were all sorts of sizes ,the smallest ones went in last .
Then we set about peeling them.What a mess, we were coverd in red juices. After cooling, we fiiled the jars ,and having strained the vinegar and added  some sugar to calm down the sharp taste. They really did look jewel like.  Hope they will taste good, but am leaving at least a month before trying any.
Will try for the photos now!  Drat it, I don't seem to be able to sort out the photos,and the computer keeps on freezing.

Next week's talk to 150 at the Bristol Area Stroke Foundation meeting

Getting my  head around what to make the night before so that they realise that I can actually cook!
Most likely Ishall do a huge onion tart, something from a French cookery book that will cut easily into pieces, a sort of savory cake;  and the maybe stun them by rolling up (one handed of course) a swiss roll.
I shall take mostof the equipment that I use daily except the magimix!
 Last week I found some sweetbreads in teh freezer that I bought at least 2 years ago in Norfolk when I was staying with some great friends. When thawed they needed blanching ,and some sinewy bits removed ,but I do remember my mum taking a long time to prepare them when we had them at home.maybe these had been cleaned more than in the past?
I first gently fried in them butter,then simmered them in stock with onions carrot celery and garlic, next thickened the whole thing with a little flour and then some  Philadelphia  cheese just to enrich the sauce. A small packet, costing £2.00 lasted me 2 meals .Very economical,and delicious  but I know that the thought of sweetbreads,being young animals "bits" is an anathema to some!  Sorry about that ......

What I have been creating.

Would you believe CHOCOLATES? Saw a programme with Nigel Slater,and thought I can do that....so I have .Picture coming up as soon as I can get it up on the blog.
I have just  had a friend staying from Cape Town,  we had a very simple supper of Avocadoes mashed with lemon juice ,chives and olive oil, with sliced fresh pears,and a little blue cheese crumbled ovethetop.
 A piece of Foccacia with that
Then grilled chicken breast,with a tagine of Butternut Squash,Red and yellow peppers,leeks,onions,
tomatoes,  some green olives,and a few prunes,with a little vegetable stock poured over,and simmered in the oven for about an hour. Also a salad, and then a really nice polenta and ground almond cake with cherry jam swirled into it before cooking.A tad dry (it said so in the recipe) so a good pouring of cream too.

Who says cooking is boring?  Not me. Apologies ,as I took the photo in night light, and found it really difficult to get rid of the shadow from my hand! As you can see, it's plain chocolate, adorned with various fruits and nuts, really dead easy.

Now I find I have masses of extra room here, as I deleted some writing, and I don't know how to get this bit to join up with the previous entry. There's a lot to learn still.

Why can so few people let me know they read this?

It really is annoying, as I know that there are quite a few ! I have lots of positive and enthusiastic emails, but only 4  of you have cracked how to give me a response on the blog, and so it looks as if no one read it.
Maybe you must have a gmail account in order to reply?
Buliders have finished, their work and  laid a screed for the floor, telling me it will take 3 days to harden off, and so Sybil walked all over it during the night, and now  it looks like a battlefield!
Only 2 more weeks to go (weather permitting) and then it will be finished,so here's hoping. It's now raining....