Monday, July 19th

Trout & Filo Flowers

48 Filo squares, approx 14cm sq.
60g Butter, melted
Butter 36 squares with pastry brush and stack 4 together in 12 piles, ending with unbuttered squares. Push piles into indentations in scone pan.

250g Cottage cheese
100g Parmesan, grated
250ml Sour cream
4 Free Range Eggs, beaten
400g Smoked trout ribbons, shredded
bunch Chives, finely chopped
Mix well, pour into prepared cases. Bake at 200C for 30 minutes, cover with foil as soon as filo begins to darken.

Friday, July 16th

Laura James' Tigger on the couch had very limited appeal. I liked The Age of Miracles by Marianne Williamson, although the prayers every two pages are a pain.

Fast Aero Dessert
serves 4

200g Peppermint Aero
350ml Heavy cream, melt with chocolate, pour into 4 ramekins.

100ml Whipping cream
15ml Fra Angelico, whip together, top chocolate, refrigerate.

Thursday, July 15th

Finished Lewis Hyde's The Gift. An intelligent book, somewhat humourless, the conclusion was the best bit.

Easy Lunch

Croissant, halved or pitas etc
Pesto, spread on croissant halves
Cold meat, top croissant halves
Grated cheese, top meat
Grill until the cheese melts. Serve with salads.
If making for guests, spread with different pestos and use variety of cheeses and meats. If using tomato slices, they must be on top of the cheese.

Wednesday, July 14th

Choux pastry (eclairs)

250ml Boiling water, in pot on stove
120g Butter, add to water
200g Flour, add to buttered water, stir into a ball, REMOVE FROM HEAT
4 Free Range Eggs, stir into mixture, one at a time, until well incorporated
Place spoonfuls on baking sheet, bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes. Fill with sweetened cream, top with melted chocolate.

Tuesday, July 13th

Started What are you optimistic about? edited by John Brockman. Nice to see that leading thinkers have things to be optimistic about.

Cheese Biscuits

275g Flour
2ml Salt
250g Strong cheese, grated
250g Butter, melted
5ml Mustard powder
2ml Cayenne pepper
Mix together, form into logs, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour or two. Slice logs into 3mm thick rounds, bake on tray for 10-15mins at 180C. Also delicious spread with jam.

Monday, July 12th

Finally read Spud - Learning to Fly by John van de Ruit, that I was given 9 months ago. Not bad, I did laugh several times.

I want to read Russel Hoban's Riddley Walker but I loathe the riddlespeak, riddleyspeak. Why don't writers just stick to understandable English?

Paged through lots of cookery books over the weekend. Interesting to know that a Madeira cake is just a Pound cake, or as we called it as kids; a white cake. My grandmother baked the recipe that follows for me hundreds of times.

White cake

400g Flour
10ml Baking Powder
1ml Salt, sieve together

250g Butter, melted
400g Sugar, stir into butter
250ml Plain Yogurt, stir into butter
5 Free Range eggs, separated, stir yolks into butter, whisk whites until dry

Add flour mixture to butter mixture and fold in the whisked egg whites. Pour into ring pan and bake at 180C for 45 minutes. It is unnecessary to frost this cake.

Friday, July 9th

Found the new Jim Carrey movie, I Love You Phillip Morris enjoyable.

Paged through Beyond Nose to Tail - Fergus Henderson & Justin Piers Gellatly again. Squirrels & lots of suet.....

Rather enjoyed Spud by John van de Ruit.

It would be great if every religious person would read The Religion Virus by Craig A James with an open mind.

Green Salad

Baby Spinach leaves, washed
Long stem Broccoli, cooked (al dente)
Green Beans, cooked (al dente)
Asparagus, cooked (al dente)
Salad dressing, pour over hot veg and leave to cool. Add drained veg to salad.
Spring Onions, chopped (optional)
Feta, crumbled or Parmesan, grated
Roasted Nuts, pine nuts are particularly good with this
Chili, minced (optional)