Cannellette

These English people with their cakes that taste of sand, never never, will they have tasted such a cake. Delicious, they will say – delicious –’
Her face clouded again.
‘Mr Patrick. He called it Delicious Death. My cake! I will not have my cake called that!’
‘It was a compliment really,’ said Miss Blacklock. ‘He meant it was worth dying to eat such a cake.’

Agatha Christie has always been one of my favourite mystery writers. I love her books, her characters and the movies and tv series based on the books and short stories. What better way to celebrate Agatha Christie’s 120th anniversary than with black coffee and a cake of death?

AgathaChristie.com announces that they invited queen of cakes Jane Asher to create a recipe for the Delicious Death cake inspired by Miss Marple’s 50th novel: A Murder is Announced. Below is the result. On the official site you can download a recipe booklet and enter your creation into their contest.

Delicious Death cake 

By Jane Asher

Ingredients

175g dark chocolate drops (50-55% cocoa solids)
100g softened or spreadable butter
100g golden caster sugar
5 large eggs
half a tsp vanilla extract
100g ground almonds
half a tsp baking powder


For the filling: 150ml rum, brandy or orange juice
150g raisins
55g soft dark brown sugar
6-8 glacé cherries
4-6 pieces crystallised ginger
1 tsp lemon juice

For the decoration:

175g dark chocolate drops (50-55% cocoa solids)
150ml double cream
2 tsps apricot jam
10g crystallized violet petals
10g crystallized rose petals
A small quantity of gold leaf.


Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C, (300F, 135C fan-assisted). Grease an 8” deep cake tin and line the bottom with baking parchment or silicone.

2. Prepare the filling: in a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients and stir over heat until the mixture is bubbling. Allow to simmer gently, while stirring, for at least two minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thickened. Allow to cool.

3. In a small heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate drops over simmering water or in a microwave, being careful not to let it overheat. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

4. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until very pale and fluffy. Separate the eggs, setting aside the whites in a large mixing bowl, and, one by one, add 4 of the yolks to the butter/sugar mix, beating well between each one.

5. Add the melted chocolate and fold in carefully, then stir in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix together the ground almonds and baking powder, then stir them into the cake mix.

6. Whisk the egg whites until peaked and stiff, then fold gently into the chocolate cake mix.

7. Spoon the mix into the prepared cake tin, leveling the top, and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 55-65 minutes, or until firm and well risen. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out on to a rack to cool completely.

8. Using a serrated knife, slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread the cooled fruit filling onto one half and sandwich the two halves back together.

To decorate: put the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and melt them together over simmering water or in a microwave. Spread the cake all over with warmed apricot jam and place on a rack over a baking tray. Keeping back a couple of tablespoonfuls, pour the icing over the whole cake, making sure it covers the top and the sides completely, scooping up the excess from the tray with a palette knife as necessary. Add any surplus to the kept back icing. Carefully transfer the cake to a 10” cake board or pretty plate.

Once the reserved icing is firm enough to pipe, place it in a piping bag with no. 8 star nozzle and pipe a scrolling line around the top and bottom edges of the cake. Leave for two to three hours to set.

Place the violet and rose petals into a plastic bag and crush them into small flakes. Sprinkle these liberally around the chocolate scrolls. Finally, with a cocktail stick, pull off some small flakes of gold leaf and gently add them to the top of the cake.



AGATHA CHRISTIE and DELICIOUS DEATH are registered trade marks of Agatha Christie Limited (a Chorion Limited company).  All rights reserved.

It’s toasting hot outside, the perfect weather for a barbecue. Unfortunately we don’t own a barbecue neither do we have the space for using one, I am sure many people have the same problem. Fear no more: a grill pan will do the trick just fine!

A recent trip to Ikea left us with a very nice recipe book full of ideas to use your grilling pan to the max: “I grill with you - 20 delicious recipes”. The recipes are varied and quite interesting, I must admit. They either have a picture or are illustrated with extremely cute drawings:

It also contains our signature dish, one we’ve been trying to recreate and perfectionize after eating it in a Japanese resaurant: Usuyaki, beef rolls filled with spring onion and garlic, fried and glazed with a teriyaki sauce. We make this dish often, and the recipe in the Ikea cookbook is quite good. 

Usuyaki - fried beef rolls filled with spring onion
makes 24

Ingredients
3 beef steaks
6 spring onions, sliced in 24 parts (slice each spring onion in 4 parts)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped (optional, we always add it, Ikea doesn’t)
Olive oil 
teriyaki sauce (see below)

Method
1. We’ve tried to recreate it before, but slicing the beef that thin turned out to be really difficult. Now we bought already thin roastbeef steaks which we put in the freezer to firm up, then we sliced each steak in 8 thin slices.
2. Fill each slice of steak with a piece of spring onion drizzle some garlic over the spring onion and roll it firmly and put in a stick to keep it from falling apart.
3. Lightly brush the beef rolls with some olive oil before grilling.You only need to grill these for a good 20 seconds on each side. Serve with the Teriyaki sauce.

Tips / varieties:
1. In the lovely The Manga Cookbook (which - perhaps surprisingly - is a VERY good Japanese basic cookbook) you’ll find a recipe for Nikumaki which uses bacon of some other piece of thinly sliced pork as a wrapper and carrot and haricots verts as filling.
2. These are also great filled with small green asparagus.
(print recipe)

Teriyaki sauce (also from The Manga Cookbook)

Ingredients
1 cup of soy sauce 
1 cup of sugar 
1 cup of mirin
1 cup of cooking sake

Method
Mix it all together in a saucepan, bring to the boil and let simmer for 7 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken.
Note on measurements: My sister in law Maire gave me a lovely set of cups for measurements in cups (logically), I used the 1/2 cup size for this recipe as we were only making it for the two of us. This proved to be more than enough for both the Usuyaki and another recipe we made (Teriyaki meatballs). We also used it to drizzle over our tuna sashimi which we had for our starter. Which brings me to a general note: the teriyaki sauce did not seem to thicken when I first made it, but it does thicken slightly more and tastes even better the day after, so make it beforehand!

(print recipe) 

This was not the recipe I wanted to share from the Ikea cookbook, but as it makes a wonderful light dish or starter I wanted to share it anyway. 

Now, onwards to the real summery recipe from the Ikea grilling cookbook!

Chicken from Tuscany
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of mixed Italian herbs (basic recipe you can make and store in an airtight container uses 1 teaspoon of each: dried oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme and sage)
olive oil
125 grams of small mozzarella balls
6-8 sun dried tomatoes, soaked and chopped
some mint leaves
8 black olive, stone removed and cut in half
2 spring onions, sliced diagonally
freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Rub the chicken breasts with pepper, salt and the mixed italian herbs. Brush some olive oil on them.
2. Heat the grillpan until very hot. Put the chicken in and cook for 15 minutes until done, make sure they get nice grilling stripes.
3. Meanwhile: put the mozzarella in a bowl with the chopped sun dried tomatoes. Chop the mint leaves and add those as well together with the olives and spring onions. Sprinkle some olive oil on the salad and mix well. Season with some freshly ground black pepper. 
4. Serve the salad with the grilled chicken breasts.  

(print recipe)

Nice, light and summery. 

Sometimes you just don’t feel like putting a lot of effort in your food. On those days an easy, healthy dish with only a few (pantry) ingredients is nice to have. 

For this chicken burger you only need chicken (minced, if available, otherwise you put it in the foodprocessor or slice it as finely as you can), rice wine, sesame oil, spring onion, soy sauce, lemon juice a bun, some sauces and lettuce and / or tomato. It’s as easy as that! You can make them on the griddle pan or on the barbecue, if the weather permits. You griddle pan will become a mess, I must warn you, but these burgers are definitely worth it. 

Lemony Chicken Burgers
Ching He Huang in China Modern

Ingredients
3 small chicken breasts
2 large spring onions, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp rice wine
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp brown sugar
1 dash of soy sauce
1 dash of sesame oil
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 white buns, for hamburgers, topped with sesame seeds
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp ketchup, chilli-tomato
1 baby gem lettuce, shredded
1 tomato, sliced

Method
1. Finely dice the chicken for the burgers and combine with the spring onions, lemon juice, rice wine, cornflour, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and seasoning. Shape the mixture into two large patties and put them in the refrigerator - if you have time - for an hour or more so they can firm up a bit.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a griddle pan over a medium heat. Fry the chicken patties for about 3-5 minutes on each side - they should be light brown and tender. Remove from the pan and keep warm. 
3. Spread the buns with some mayo and chilli ketchup, put some lettuce leaves on the bun and place your burger on top of the lettuce. Add some slices of tomato if you like.


 

We also mixed in some chopped coriander leaves, this time, which adds a lovely extra ‘herby’ depth. I also often use my lemon black pepper, which adds some extra zing on top of the lemon juice.I topped my burger with a tiny bit of Sriracha sauce.

A satisfying, easy and healthy burger! I am sure you will find yourself making these often - they are also great for picnik or lunch sandwiches or just for a snack.

Sunday needs barbecueing and therefore I bring you a recipe! A vegetarian one today, just for the fun of it, and with a slightly unusual ingredient to spice things up: Halloumi. 

Halloumi is a small, elastical and crustless white cheese from the Middle East. It hardly melts and is therefore wonderful to prepare on the barbecue.

Grilled Halloumi with a lemon-coriander-almond pesto.

---

Ingredients

A block of Halloumi 

For the pesto

A large handful of coriander stalks with leaves
1 clove of garlic
1 red chilipepper
2 tablespoons of white almonds
half a teaspoon cumin seeds
half -1 salted lemon
1-2 tablespoons of moisture from the jar

Method

1. Slice the halloumi in thick slices and grill the slices.
2. Mix the ingredients for the pesto in a blender to form a puree. Cautiously add 125 ml of olive oil or enough to make a smooth sauce.
3. Serve the grilled halloumi with the pesto (I never said this was a difficult dish).

Halloumi tastes quite salty, quite like feta, so it nicely combines with the slightly sour taste of the pesto.

Enjoy!

I envy my sister in law. She has been to Thailand a few times and took a cooking class once where she learned how to carve pretty vegetable flowers. That is high on my to do list! Luckily she brought me some Thai food greeting cards. They have amazing recipes printed on the back with a pretty picture of the food in question on the front. I use them frequently, and one of them has become one of our signature dishes. Spicy beef salad, or Yum Nua. It is a very easy dish and pretty adaptable. 

As the amazing-but-sometimes-impossible David Thompson always says in his Thai Food bible this dish should taste equally salty, sour, sweet, spicy and umami. Give it a go, it won’t fail. You can serve it with either noodles or rice or a nice baguette, whatever you like.

Yum Nua
Spicy Beef salad

---

Ingredients

400 g of beef tenderloin (we used ostrich steak today)
0,25 cup sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic
6 fresh coriander leaves (and more for garnish)
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
2 spring onions
6 fresh red chillies (:-D it IS Thai food, we usually use 1…)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
lettuce leaves (we used red bell pepper today)   

Method
1. Grill the beef until medium rare, or as preferred, and cut into thin slices.
2. Pound together the garlic, soy sauce, sugar, lime juice, chopped coriander leaves, spring onions (thinly sliced), salt and ground black pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan and stir fry the spice paste for 3-4 minutes.
4. Combine the beef and cook for a minute.
5. Remove the beef and allow to cool.
6. Before serving, sprinkle the chillies (thinly sliced) on top and garnish with the remaining coriander leaves.

Many things count as comforting. For me it ranges from a tasty cup of coffee (and I am very picky) to reading books with titles like “Enquire Within About Everyting 1890” (with the dazzling remark printed on the cover: over one million copies sold). I am not kidding - I spent some lovely evenings leafing through it, stumbling across sensible advice as:

376. Beat a Carpet on the wrong side first; and then more gently on the right side. Beware of using sticks with sharp points, which may tear the carpet.

It may sound silly and obvious, but I completely understand the need for a book like this. Another one, just for the sake of it:

1792. Why does milk turn sour during thunderstorms? - Because, in an electric condition of the atmosphere, ozone is generated. Ozone is oxygen in a state of great intensity; and oxygen is a general acidifier of many organic substances. Milk may be prevented from becoming sour by boiling it, or bringing it nearly to boiling point, for, as the old proverb says, “Milk boiled is milk spoiled.” Heating the milk expels the oxygen.

Wonderful!

Other times just watching an episode of one of my favourite tv series (or a newly discovered one) can be just the type of comfort I need.

One of my “guilty pleasures” when it comes to comfort reading is The Babysitter’s Club series. I really like the comic books by Raina Telgemeier released last year.

Sometimes, though, you actually have to get your hands dirty to satisfy your comfort-cravings. And as one of my ultimate comfort foods are scones: here’s a nice recipe that I have to try soon - they look so delicious!

Pumpkin & Date Scones

---

(from Mix & Bake by Belinda Jeffery)

Ingredients

3 cups (450g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarb/baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
120g cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
200g chopped pitted dates (not medjool, they’re far too moist and sticky for this)
1 cup cold cooked mashed pumpkin (I used butternut)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper, then very lightly dust it with flour and set aside.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking/bicab soda and salt into a large bowl and use a balloon whisk to whisk it together. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir together the buttermilk and cooked cold mashed pumpkin and set aside for now.
3. Add the dates to the bowl and toss them through to coat them in the flour mixture, then make a well in the centre of the bowl and pour in the pumpkin/buttermilk mix. Stir it together till barely combined, then tip it onto a well-floured chopping board and lightly knead till the mixture comes together (not till the batter is smooth - just till it holds together and doesn’t have any unmixed bits).
4. Pat the dough into a round about 4cm thick, then dip a scone cutter (or glass tumbler) into some flour and stamp out your scone shapes. Alternately, you can cut the round into triangular wedges or pat it into a cylinder and just cut off rounds.
5. Carefully sit the scones closely together on the baking tray, using up all your dough (press the scraps together rather than kneading them). Either dust the tops with flour or give them a milk or egg wash, then bake for 20 minutes or till cooked through and golden. Once they’re done, remove them from the oven and wrap in a clean tea towel for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
6. Serve whilst warm with some salted butter, or store in an airtight container for up to three days. Cold scones can be reheated in a microwave or toaster oven to make them warm and soft again.

This weekend we made a blitz trip to Brussels. We wanted to see the Moomin exhibition in the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée - a lovely Art Nouveau building. Brussels itself was a bit disappointing, though. It looked a bit faded and since I heard so much about the Art Nouveau tours and the wonderful architecture I was stunned to find tons of new, high, ugly buildings when we were driving to the museum. If anyone has better experiences with Brussels and tips on which areas to visit, I would love to hear them.

The weekend started with a visit to my parents in the very south of the Netherlands, near both the Belgian and German border. It still feels like home. Completely unexpected one of my dear childhood friends was visiting her parents as well, she now lives in the US so she was the last person I expected there! She called because she thought she saw us drive by and we had a nice long talk which made the weekend extra nostalgic.

For dinner on friday evening my mother made home made fries (cut by hand, so they are not as thin as French Fries) with a traditional sweet and sour meat stew called Zuurvlees. My grandmother makes the best version and she handed it down to my mother, so I am giving you a true family recipe.

Zuurvlees is traditionally made with horsemeat, I remember eating it with horsemeat when I was a small child - I loved it, even though I also love horses. The last fifteen years my parents or my grandmother have not made it with horsemeat anymore, as it is a bit controversial and not sold everywhere. It tastes just as wonderful with beef.

Traditional Zuurvlees

---

Ingredients
500 g beef flank steak cut in small chunks
4 big onions, peeled and sliced
3 bay leaves
3 cloves (I always put the cloves and the bay leaves in a folded paper coffee filter so you can easily take it out again)
sweet paprika powder, salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
a splash of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
2 cups of water
1 cup vinegar
two or three tablespoons of apple butter for taste, thickening and colour, if you can’t find apple butter use some slices of crumbled soft gingerbread instead
sugar to taste
1 stock cube

Method
1. Brown the meat well in a little bit of oil or butter, season it with salt, freshly ground pepper and paprika powder to taste.
2. Add the sliced onions and cook until soft.
3. Add the water, vinegar, the package with the cloves and bay leaves, the crumbled stock cube and kecap manis. Let it simmer for 2 hours or more, stirring occasionally and scooping off the foam.
4.When the meat is done, add the apple butter and / or the crumbled gingerbread slices and stir until combined. It should be a thick and velvety dark brown sauce. Taste to determine if it needs more seasoning, vinegar or applebutter and adjust to taste accordingly.

This is traditionally eaten with home made fries and a dollop of mayonaise. It also tastes delicious with the, also extremely Dutch, Hotchpotch (Hutspot in Dutch) a dish of boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots and (in my family baked) onions. I often eat it with bucatini pasta, stirred with a little bit of butter and grated nutmeg, delicious nostalgic comfort food!

I love Mexican food with its bold flavours, the heat combined with the hearty meatiness and the creaminess of avocado or sour cream. It makes a wonderful combination. I do not always like the Mexican food you get in (at least) Dutch Mexican restaurants. They like to cover all their dishes in cheese and eveything basically tastes the same - like slightly spicy tomato sauce with cheese.

What I do always like are the black beans - I really love their soft but slightly crunchy texture and their rich flavour. Luckily you can hardly screw those up. This Black bean and chocolate chilli from the Vegan Society sounds amazing:

Mole Poblano de Caraotas Negras

---

Ingredients
500g/1lb 2oz black turtle beans
175g/6oz onions
2 cloves garlic
55g/2oz cornflour
400g/14oz tinned tomatoes
25g/1oz flaked almonds
25g/1oz raisins
1 tbsp sesame seeds
25g/1oz dark chocolate
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cloves
¼ tsp star anise
¼ tsp cinnamon
10g mulato chilli
10g ancho chilli
7g pasilla chilli
salt, pepper and sugar to taste
1 litre/1¾ pint water

Method
1. Soak the beans overnight, then cook them in fresh water for about 1 hour until soft. Drain and leave to cool.
2. Fry the onions and garlic in some oil until soft.
3. Add the cornflour, chillis, almonds, raisins, sesame seeds and freshly ground spices.
4. Shortly after add the tomatoes and water.
5. Add the beans and broken up chocolate, stirring all the time.
6. Cook for a further 10 minutes adding more water if necessary.
7. Serve with rice and salad.

Tonight we were invited to eat at my sister in law’s she suggested a “create your own meal” taco fest. That I love. You just fry some minced beef with a taco seasoning mix, you heat up taco shells, or what we just discovered: mini taco tubs! An amazing find - you are actually able to eat them after you filled them! My sister in law had chopped some onions, tomatoes and cucumber, grated cheese and made lovely quacamole. Topped with a dollop of creme fraiche it made a lovely Mexican inspired feast. The picture above is from the Casa Fiesta website and shows the taco tubs, the recipe pictured is for a Ceviche - a salad traditionally consisting of lime-marinated salmon with sliced onion, salt and pepper.

Ceviche

---

Ingredients
400 g salmon filet, it must have been frozen for 48 hours before preparing this dish
2 avocados
1/2 pineapple
1 1/2 cucumber, sliced (peeled and seedless)
2 tomatoes, sliced and deseeded 1 jalapeno pepper, finely sliced and deseeded
3 limes (1 dl juice)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
Mini taco tubs :-)

1. Cut the salmon, cucumber, pineapple and avocado into 1 cm cubes.
2. Marinate the salmon for 2 hours in garlic and lime juice, make sure it’s well coated and stir occasionally.
3. Mix the salmon with chopped tomatoes, pineapple, avocado, cucumber and sliced jalapeno’s, add a tablespoon of olive oil and mix well. Garnish with some fresh coriander before serving.

This weekend we will be visiting my family and going to Brussels to see the Moomins exhibition. My mother will make some cozy, comforting, straightforward and old fashioned family dishes. I will share her lovely traditional sour beef stew soon. It’s a traditional Dutch dish in general, but the version my mother makes is very common in the south of the Netherlands, where I come from.

For this week we have some lovely menu plans:

• Miso marinated pork probably simply with some wokked pak choi and steamed rice - lovely!
• Zesty chilli tiger prawns, again simply with some steamed rice.
• Something with the inariage pouches I bought.
• Spicy beef with coriander dish

But first tonight: Dan dan noodles. It’s a classic dish from the Chinese Sichuan area. Many versions exist, the authentic ones spicier than others. I use Ching He Huangs recipe who first makes a coating for the noodles which uses sesame paste (tahini), sesame oil, chicken stock, light soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and chili oil. The meat sauce is made with ground beef, garlic, ginger, rice wine and chilli bean sauce and some toasted sichuan pepper, coriander and spring onion for garnish.

Dan Dan noodles

---

Serves 4

For the meat topping
2 tbsp groundnut oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
1 tbsp freshly grated root ginger
1 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or use 3 tbsp chilli bean paste!)
250 g minced beef
1 tbsp Shaohsing rice wine
100 g cornichons / cocktail gherkins in vinegar drained and finely diced
1 tbsp light soy sauce

For the noodle base and sauce
500 g any wheat flour noodles
toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp sesame paste / tahini blended with 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp chilli oil
1 tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar / balsamic vinegar
750 ml chicken stock

For the garnish
1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
1 large spring onion, finely chopped
1 small handful of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks, finely chopped
1 tsp chilli oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain and toss them through with some sesame oil, put to one side.
2. To make the meat topping, heat the wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the minced beef. As the beef starts to turn brown, add the rice wine and cook for a few seconds. Stir in the cornichons or gherkins and cook until fragrant, then season with the soy sauce and keep on a very low heat.
3. Next, make the noodle sauce. Put the sesame paste or blended tahini, the chilli oil and vinegar into a small wok or pan, add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low.
4. Put the Sichuan peppercorns for the garnish into a small pan and dry roast until fragrant, then remove from the heat and crush in a pestle and mortar.
5. To serve divide the noodles between 4 bowls then ladle on the sauce and top with the stir-fry. Garnish with the Sichuan peppercorns, spring onion and coriander. Drizzle chilli oil over the dish, add a drizzle of sesame oil to taste around the edge of the sauce and serve immediately.

While making it, we realized we already made this dish before and did not really like it very much (very soupy and we missed a kick, see also: What Rachel Ate) so while preparing we decided to make Dan Dan noodles following this recipe instead: Dan Dan noodles by KokRobin it was delicious and used our beloved Chilli bean paste! We ended up adding 250 ml of chicken stock (for 2 people, so we halved the recipe) and decided it really did not need to simmer for 30 minutes. So we let it simmer for 20 minutes. When we were almost finished we realized we forgot to add our cornichons, forgot to buy peanuts and didn’t have any coriander so we’ll make it again sometime soon because I think the cornichons will add a nice soury sharpness.

One of my favourite foods is quiche. It is filling, easy to make, easy to take somewhere (for a picknick or a party) and - very important - easy to keep (and it gets even better when it’s kept in the fridge for a day or so). This is a lighter version, not because I am such a health freak, but because this version just tastes better, in my opinion. I never had a lot of quiche in my life. It was not something my mother made often. My first memory after a long time without quiche was during the first sailing trip I took with my boyfriend and his family. My sister in law, an excellent cook, made a quiche and some other things for a nice picknick on the water. It was a lovely thing to eat on the water with the wind blowing through my hair.

Quiche Lorrainne

---

Ready-made pastry or use this recipe from Rachel allen:

1. Put the flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor and process briefly.
2. Add half the beaten egg and continue to process. (You might add a little more egg, but not too much as the mixture should be just moist enough to come together.) If making the pastry by hand, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs then, using your hands, add just enough egg to bring it together.
3. With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick, then wrap it in cling film or place it in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10–15 minutes, before using.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
5. Line a 19cm high-sided tart tin with the shortcrust pastry and cover the base with baking parchment. Fill the tin with baking beans and bake blind for 10-15 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment for the last five minutes of baking for a golden crust.

Filling

175 g bacon
50 g Cheddar (crumbled)
50 g Gruyere (grated)
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped chives
2 onions, peeled and chopped
3 eggs
250 g sour cream
some oil to cook the bacon and sweat the onion
nutmeg, freshly ground black pepper and salt for seasoning

Method

1. First cook the bacon in a little oil until crisp. Drain it and set it aside.
2. Gently sweat the onions in the same oil until softened and also set aside.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the three eggs in a bowl, add the cream, herbs, cheeses, bacon and onions. Mix well and season with salt, nutmeg and black pepper.
4. Pour the filling into the pastry base and return to the oven to bake for 30–40 minutes, or until the centre has set.

Since I first made this recipe last year I adapted it a bit, here are some nice variations and tips:

• use 1 leek and 1 onion for more varied veggies. This next bit of information made my life a lot easier: to clean the leek, chop it in half and then carve those pieces lengthwise so you can fold them open, this way you can wash them more easily and you’ll also clean inside.
• add some diced cherry tomatoes
• use little cubes of ham (boiled) for a lighter and less salty version (lovely combined with the leek)
• add a pinch of curry powder (or more to taste)
• add some (smoked mild) paprika powder or some grated chilli flakes for a kick
• make it the day before you want to eat it, it firms up a bit and the flavours enhance - it tastes even better the day after!