Crunchy Apple Pudding

Crunchy Apple Pudding 3-2

I couldn’t countenance Sunday lunch without a pudding.  I fully admit there have been times when a quickly whisked together chocolate or butterscotch sauce to pour over good ice cream has been all I could muster but puddings they were nonetheless.  I love all manner of rib sticking, warming treats – after all Sunday lunch only comes around once a week and I will easily go days or the whole week without any other sweet, sticky number for afters.  Golden syrup sponge, lemon (or chocolate) surprise pudding, a fruit crumble, pie or galette – anything that will be delicious and only improved by cold cream or warm custard.

Last Sunday though I had rather gone to town with a main course of braised silverside and many, many vegetables.  So, although I had bought bramleys and had apple crumble with cream firmly, and fondly, in mind a bit of rejigging was in order.

Several years ago I was offered a pudding called Danish Peasant Girl in a Veil.  Seriously, that was the name – I am sure because I had to ask at least four times.  Caroline, who made it, assured me that just because I hadn’t heard of it didn’t mean it wasn’t a real dessert…  It was layers of apple puree, crispy breadcrumbs, whipped cream and grated chocolate and extremely good it was too.  It has sat filed in my memory until now.

I decided to combine the spirit of the Danish girl with an old nursery pudding of dark muscavado ‘melted’ on top of Greek yogurt which in turn covers some fruit.  So here we have it.  A lighter take or a (rather early) summer version of apple crumble with cream.  My husband and children loved it although I think I am the biggest fan.  Next time I am going to make more so I can also have it for breakfast.

Crunchy Apple Pudding 3

Crunchy Apple Pudding

I have given measurements but these are flexible, if your apples weigh 1kg then great, you will have a little more puree just adjust the sugar accordingly.  Likewise use more yogurt if you like, these are just guidelines.

750g bramley apples, cored, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

50g breadcrumbs

25g butter

1 heaped tablespoon demerara sugar

Good pinch of salt

1 heaped tablespoon dark muscavado

250g Greek yogurt

Put the apples, sugar and water in a pan and cook slowly until completely broken down.  Taste, you may need a touch more sugar depending on the sharpness of your apples.  Leave to cool.  Meanwhile melt the butter in a frying pan and add the breadcrumbs, sugar and a good pinch of salt.  Mad though it might seem you need the salt to give flavour so the crumbs don’t just taste sweet.  Fry these gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden and crunchy then leave to cool.  Once you have all the components you can assemble your puddings.  Divide the apple between the glasses and top with the yogurt, sprinkle the muscavado between the four glasses and leave it for a few minutes to ‘melt’ then cover with breadcrumbs.  You can do more layers if you like, I am not dextrous enough to do many, neatly and I only want breadcrumbs on the top so they are really crunchy.  This makes enough for 4 glasses but is easily doubled.

Crunchy Apple Pudding 2

Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde_

The vegetables around at this time of year are pretty hard and tough, the rugby players of the vegetable world if you will.  Big bruisers able to withstand adverse conditions and not ones to wilt in the face of a little frost.  On first sight they may seem a little solid and unapproachable – think swedes, celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, cabbages and big, floury winter potatoes.  A world away, or certainly a few months, from frilly rocket, pea shoots and delicate herbs.

Whilst summer produce is immediately scoffable and obvious in its delights, some of these winter offerings need a little gentle encouragement, accessories of butter and cream and time so that they too can shine.  The transformation can be astonishing and it is these cosy, reassuring and restoring soups and gratins that we need during the cold months.  Necessary ballast.

Last night I made a gratin with sliced potatoes, a few matchsticks of leftover ham, broccoli and a thick blanket of cheese sauce.  Baked until the top was bubbling and blistered and the broccoli satisfyingly singed, it was absolutely perfect for the coldest night of the year so far.

This is, for me, dream food.  The sort I start thinking about fairly soon after breakfast as I take Tom for a brisk walk up the hill and one of the reasons I push myself on said walks – so I can have seconds.

This soup is just such a warming little number and has a second smack of satisfaction in its frugality.  Caldo Verde is a Portuguese soup rustled up when there wasn’t much on offer and is traditionally just cabbage, potatoes and water with a little garlic.  I’ve taken a liberty by using lovely seasonal kale instead of cabbage and whilst I do add chorizo I stop myself there.  Tempting though it is to use stock rather than water or to add an onion or some herbs, such tinkering would be too great a departure from the original.

I urge you to try this, it makes a fabulous lunch followed by a good hunk of cheese.  Just don’t do what I did which was to burn my mouth in my speedy greed to taste it.

Caldo Verde 2

Caldo Verde

4 tablespoons good olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

750g floury potatoes, diced (I don’t bother peeling them)

150g kale or Cavolo Nero, tear it up and remove big hard stalks

150g chorizo, sliced

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large pan, add the garlic and then heat gently.  Once the garlic is dancing around the pan but not coloured add the potatoes and a teaspoon of salt, stir and cook for 5 minutes.  Add 1.2 litres of water and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.  Mash about a 1/3 of the potatoes against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon so they break down a bit.  Add the kale and simmer for five minutes.  Meanwhile heat the remaining oil in a pan and fry the chorizo for a couple of minutes then add this to the potatoes and kale along with the fabulous orange oil.  Taste (cautiously) and adjust the seasoning if necessary then serve.  Enough for 4.

 

Buttermilk Scones

Scones-2

This weekend we had proper blustery, stormy weather.  The sort where you either struggle to walk into the wind or, if you turn around can lean against the wind feeling it almost support you.  I am not so keen on rain but as long as wrapped up well, this chilly, wind howling Wuthering Heights sort of weather is fantastic.  You come home with your hair whipped around your head, tingling ears and a good, healthy, rosy-cheeked glow.  There is something entirely satisfying in this and even more so if a treat awaits you at the end of your walk.

So it was on Saturday afternoon when my little boy and I decided to make scones.  Now I usually think of scones as an outside in the garden, summer tea but I don’t know why.  They take minutes to whip up and are a supremely good treat in front of a cosy fire after an invigorating walk (equally good without the walk too).  Ours were being eaten within an hour of us having the idea and they were great fun to make with my son.  His pride in the finished article means he will not only be keen as mustard to make these again but to perhaps try something new next time to add to his repertoire – win, win.

You may have spotted an error in the whole scone with jam and cream scenario in the top photograph but don’t worry, in the time it took for us to make them, a kind man nipped out and bought clotted cream to accompany the jam on the scones and they were fabulous.

Scones 2

Scones

If you want to make these and don’t have any buttermilk to hand just mix 1/3 yogurt with 2/3 milk up to 300ml.  Bear in mind though that buttermilk has a fairly long (fridge) shelf life and is available in all supermarkets.  You can also use it for my seedy soda bread (April 2013) which is just the ticket with soup and very quick to make (no rising).

450g self-raising flour

100g cold butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

85g golden caster sugar

284ml pot buttermilk (make it up to 300ml with milk)

Preheat the oven to 200.  Whizz the flour and butter together until like breadcrumbs, add the salt and sugar and then gently by hand mix in the buttermilk until it all comes together.  Gently form the dough into a ball and roll out until about 5cm thick.  Cut out to whatever size you like and place on a lightly floured baking sheet.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes but check after 12 (if you have made jumbo scones they might need a minute or two more).  This will make 10-12 scones depending on the size you choose.  They are best eaten on the day they are made, which shouldn’t be a problem, but you can reheat the next day if needs be.  Serve with jam and cream (of course!).

Happy New Year!

Christmas salad

I’m not going to tell you what to eat.  There are a lot of suggestions out there right now but really, most of us know that a healthy balance is the optimum choice and diving headlong into the duvet like cosiness of endless cakes, pies and steamed puddings is probably not.

Firstly I am too greedy for total abstinence and secondly I have two children whom I am determinedly hopeful will develop a happy, sensible relationship with food, loving it as much as I do but knowing what is great, good and not so good for them.  Bingeing (Christmas or otherwise) followed by crash dieting wouldn’t be an ideal example for them and terribly unhealthy for me and my husband.

So what is my attempt at the middle line?  During the week my lunches are usually vegetable based soups or huge, sustaining salads full of delicious things and I try to keep well away from any processed sugars or white carbs.  Come the weekend I will relax a bit and particularly as the children are around then, a variety of treats will hit the table.  Alongside all that is fresh, crunchy and good for us there might be a good loaf or some homemade pizzas and I couldn’t imagine Sunday lunch without a proper pudding….

Kale and Lentil soup

This week then I have been tucking into my Christmas salad (December 2013 and pictured top) which, like a puppy, is not just for Christmas but a fabulous, crunchy full of flavour salad and also my Kale, Lentil and Bacon Soup (October 2013, pictured above).  To offer a little balance and prove I am no goody goody, we had Golden Syrup Sponge Puddings (January 2014) at the weekend (perfect treat after a long walk) and I have just made some Flapjacks for the children to tuck into after school.  For these I used my usual recipe (Flapjacks, October 2013) but replaced the oats with some Cranberry and Sunflower seed muesli we had been given;  what a winner, fabulous flapjacks and one less packet gathering dust in the larder.

Lots of new recipes on their way but in the meantime, Happy New Year and only look at the photograph below if you are not currently living on kale and quinoa……

Golden Syrup Sponge

 

A Buche de Noel….

Buche de Noel 1

Buche de Noel sounds rather more charming than Christmas Log doesn’t it although neither name really conveys the pleasure of eating this.  Never mind, the answer is to press on and try it for yourself to see how very, very delicious it is.

This came about because none of my family are very keen on mincemeat based puds which puts Christmas pudding, mince pies et al fairly firmly out of the window.  Indeed it came down to me to be solely responsible for the consumption of our Christmas cake last year (and the second one I made in January because I was so bereft when the first was finished, but that is another story).

So I set about finding something that is both festive and celebratory but avoided raisins or mincemeat.  Some sort of Buche de Noel came to mind and I liked the idea of Marsala as I find is heady warmth particularly suited to this time of year.  Tiramisu in its usual form is popular chez May so I decided this was the way to go.

This is both light and rich if that is not an oxymoron.  What I mean is that you feel as if you have had a proper treat, boozy and creamy and yet don’t immediately need to lie down in a cool room because you are so stuffed.  If that weren’t enough I think it is an absolute stunner – it brings to mind Biba mocha velvet with a cappuccino colour, floppy satin pussy cat bow….  Happy Christmas!

Buche de Noel 2

A Buche de Noel

This an easy pudding and you can make the components ahead of time.  The chocolate outer you see in the photographs was made a day before and kept rolled in a cool place before being filled – as you see it looks a picture and I must tell you, tasted divine.

5 teaspoons coffee (made with 1/2 a teaspoon of instant coffee and 6 of boiling water)

6 eggs

130g caster sugar

50g cocoa, plus extra for dusting

250g tub marscarpone

6 teaspoons Marsala

2 tablespoons icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 170 and line a swiss roll tin (approx 34x24cm) with baking parchment.  Put the egg yolks and sugar in one bowl and whisk until pale and doubled in volume;  put the whites into another bowl and whisk until soft peaks form.  Sieve the cocoa into the egg yolks along with 2 teaspoons of the coffee and combine.  Add a third of the egg whites into the yolks and mix well to slacken the chocolate mixture then add the remaining whites in two lots, combining very gently.  Pour the whole lot into the prepared tin and cook for 15 minutes until just firm on top.  Whilst it is in the oven dust another sheet of parchment with cocoa.  When the chocolate mix is cooked, carefully tip it out onto the cocoa dusted parchment, cautiously peel away the “cooked” parchment and starting from the short end, firmly (but gently!) roll up, using the paper to help you and leave it to cool.

Meanwhile mix the mascarpone, marsala, icing sugar and 3 teaspoons of the coffee together and taste, you might decide you want a little more sugar or marsala…!  Carefully unroll the chocolate outer and spread the marscarpone mixture over it, then roll it up again.  It may crack but usually stays together pretty well and anyway, it really doesn’t matter.  If you want you can dust with more cocoa, a snow fall of icing sugar or a grating of chocolate – up to you.  Serves 6-8 depending on how generous your slices are and how much you want left over…..

Buche de Noel 4

 

 

 

Cheddar and Chive Bread

Cheese and Chive Bread 2

Prior to the big feasts in a week or so, it is a very much a soup time of year.  Nothing like a bowl of soup, cosy and warming to keep the chill out.  What I really like is something special to go with it to make a proper lunch rather than a simple token something to eat.  As I ever, I want a feast.  Earlier this year I shared the recipe for some cheese scones which were fabulous with my quick pea soup.  This bread is along similar lines but a little more versatile and could well be your star guest over Christmas.  Not only is it perfect with soup or any starters, but a warm loaf of this presented alongside cold turkey or ham will turn leftovers into something properly special.

I made this with the last of my Barber’s 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar which you may have seen feature in a couple of recipes recently – a knockout steak, cheese and sweet onion relish toastie and butternut stuffed with leeks and cheese.  In both cases this super tangy, full flavoured cheddar was king which, considering Barbers have been making this cheese since 1833 is unsurprising.  To get to the point, they  have really got the hang of it and their cheese is fantastic.

I make this bread with my regular white loaf recipe and if you omit the cheese and chives that is exactly what you will have, a good everyday loaf should you need one.  If you have some blue cheese hanging around over Christmas then use this instead for your bread with some chopped rosemary in place of the chives – it is a sensational combination.

Cheddar and Chive Bread

I usually use this amount to make two loaves, one cheddar and chive and the other gorgonzola and rosemary.  The 125g cheese is enough for one loaf, simply double that and the chives if you are making both loaves cheddar and chive. You could of course leave the second loaf plain and have it for breakfast.

500g strong white bread flour

10g fine salt

10g dry instant yeast

50g soft butter

300ml luke warm water

125g strong cheddar, cut into small cubes (this is enough for one of your loaves)

Small bunch of chives, finely chopped (this is enough for one of your loaves)

Mix the flour, salt, yeast, butter and water into a dough and knead for 10 minutes either by hand or with a stand mixer.   Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise somewhere warm for at least an hour or until doubled in size.  Split the dough in two and roll each out into a rough A4 rectangle, scatter over the cheese and chives and roll up into a log shape squidging the cheese into the dough as you go.  If you are leaving one of the loaves plain just form it into whatever shape loaf you like.  Place these onto a lined and floured tin, cover with a tea towel and leave for a further hour.  Preheat the oven to 200.  Slash the top of the loaves a couple of times if you like and then bake for 20 minutes until golden brown, some of the cheese may leak out but that is part of the charm and those bits will be delicious for whomever gets to them first….

Cheese and Chive Bread

 

Chocolate Peppermint Tart

Chocolate Peppermint Tart 1

The easiest pudding in the world I think, bar offering a bowl of apples.  Crunchy biscuit base, no need for faffing with pastry on this occasion.  Creamy, truffley chocolate filling with a hint of mint (hint of mint?).  A cross between a great big After Eight and a Viscount biscuit (remember those?).  You can have all the ingredients in the cupboard and fridge and then conjure this up when you have a few minutes to spare.  You will be greeted by oohs and ash when you bring out this little number and no one, but no one will believe you didn’t slave to produce your masterpiece.  Some crushed up candy canes makes this pure Christmas for me but if that is a step too far for you, please dispense with this final flourish.

This might look like a slightly small tart for eight but it is very rich.  A small slice would probably cover pudding and after dinner mint in one go.  Alternatively just make a bigger one.

Chocolate Peppermint Tart 3

If you want to go to the Chocolate Orange route then substitute Cointreau or Grand Marnier for the peppermint but bear in mind your tart will now contain a drop or two of alcohol.  This version would look stunning topped with some chocolate covered candied orange peel.

I usually make a chocolatey pudding around Christmas or New Year and if you want another to try, make my Chocolate Pudding Cake (December 2012) which is simplicity itself and better still, you can make it now and freeze until you need it.

Chocolate Peppermint Tart 2

Chocolate Peppermint Tart

I use the all chocolate Neos from Lidl which work a treat but you could use Oreos.  Choose the all chocolate ones rather than those with a white filling to keep the dark beauty of the base if you can but both taste delicious.

225g Neos or Oreos

50g butter plus a tiny bit extra for brushing the tin, all melted

Pinch of salt

150g chocolate, I use half milk and half plain

20g butter

150ml cream

1-2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Brush a 20cm tart tin with a removable base with a little melted butter.  Whizz the biscuits in a processor or bash them in a plastic bag until you have fine crumbs.  Mix with the remaining melted butter, a pinch of salt and then press firmly into the tin including the sides.   Chill this in the fridge whilst you get on with the filling.   Melt the chocolate, butter and cream gently in a pan.  Once this is all amalgamated add a teaspoon of peppermint, mix well and then taste, you might want a little more but don’t overdo it, you want gentle peppermint not mouthwash.  Pour this mixture into the biscuit shell and chill until set, a couple of hours.  Now, how easy was that?

Chocolate Peppermint Tart 5

 

Roast Butternut with Cheese, Leeks and Parsley

Barbers 1883 Butternut

This has to be a contender for the ultimate comfort food – sweet, roasted, caramelised butternut with a hint of chilli filled with melty leeks, strong tangy cheddar and a final flourish of fresh, verdant parsley.  The molten, almost fondue like, cheese combines so well with the squash;  cosy, heart and soul warming food – a veritable hug on a cold and rainy day.

These are all ingredients I keep to hand at this time of year and if I wasn’t going to go the above route (although why I wouldn’t, I can’t think…) I have another idea for you.  Roast chunks of butternut in the oven, meanwhile soften leeks in a large pan with a splash of oil and a knob of butter.  When the butternut is soft add to the leeks with a litre of vegetable or chicken stock, a splash of dry sherry and a pinch of chilli flakes.  Whizz with a hand held blender and serve with a swirl of cream and a slice or two of cheese on toast.

Two choices, which way to go…..

Roast Butternut with Cheese, Leeks and Parsley

1 butternut

Pinch of chilli flakes

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large leek (or 2 small) washed and sliced

80g strong cheddar, I used Barbers 1833

1 tablespoon cream

10g parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200.  Cut the butternut in half, scoop out the seeds and then brush the cut surface with a little olive oil.  Sprinkle with a pinch of chilli flakes, salt and pepper and roast for an hour or until soft and caramelised.  Meanwhile melt the remaining oil and the butter in a pan and cook the onion and leek gently until soft.   Add the grated cheese, cream, parsley and season to taste.  When the butternut is done remove from the oven, divide the leek mixture between the two halves, sprinkle with a little extra cheddar if you want and then return to the oven for 5-10 minutes until golden brown on top and bubbling.  This would serve two for lunch with some quick pickled onions (August 2014) and a salad or four as a side if you halved each half.

Barbers very kindly gave me some of their Vintage Reserve Cheddar and this is what I used for this recipe.

 

Cheddar is King

Barbers 1883 Steak

When it comes to cheese, Cheddar is King.  I feel some intakes of breath and raised eyebrows so let me explain.  I love cheese, absolutely adore the stuff.  Blue cheese, soft cheese, smelly cheese, holey cheese, hard cheese – you name it, it works for me.  If however and God forbid, I had to choose just one cheese then it would have to be cheddar and this is why.

Parmesan is fabulous – strong, salty and perfect grated on pasta, shaved over salads or in chunks after dinner with a perfect pear – but I don’t want it in a cheese and pickle sandwich.  Gorgonzola in a warm salad with mushrooms or melted over my onion tart tatin is splendid but I wouldn’t want it in my cauliflower cheese.  Sharp white feta – just the ticket in a Greek salad or my Feta and Spinach parcels but honestly has no place in a wobbly, fluffy cheese souffle.  Do you see where I am going with this?  All cheeses have their perfect place, some can even adapt to a couple of occasions but there is only one contender for the main prize, one that can do everything, the supreme all rounder – the mighty cheddar.

Sweet, tangy, nutty, salty it is just divine and a regular in my fridge.  In fact since I first set out into the big wide world and had to fend for myself I don’t think my shopping basket has ever been without it.   First few weeks in London – cheese on toast with Worcester sauce to remind me of Yorkshire Saturdays in front of the wrestling.  Studying for my city exams – cheese and pickle sandwiches for a week so as to have no cooking distraction.  Oh and when I say cheese in both these cases I do of course mean cheddar.

It is a saviour when I need to rustle up a packed lunch from a skeleton fridge or for a snack and I’m sure barely a week goes by without it being the main feature – cheese souffle, cauliflower cheese, Welsh rarebit, cheesy leeks on toast, a grand Saturday ploughmans or my daughters favourite, plain pasta with butter and cheese.

This then, is a new best friend.  A love child if you will from a grilled cheese sandwich and a steak sarnie.  The melty cheddar forms an alliance between the savoury, meaty juices and the sweet onion relish that has to be tasted to be believed.  That it is all incased in toasty, crisp bread is simply gilding the lily.  It is superb, it is supreme.  Just try it.

Barbers 1883 Steak 2

Barbers 1833 Cheddar and Steak Sandwich with Quick Onion Relish

You might want to add a handful of rocket or watercress to the sandwich for a little peppery bite, not that it needs it but you might like the greenery.

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion (snooker ball size), chopped

1 heaped teaspoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 steak, approx 250g

2 thick slices of good, rustic bread – a sourdough or similar

50g good strong cheddar, I used Barbers 1833, thinly sliced

Melt the butter and oil in a small frying pan, add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook slowly until soft, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the sugar, balsamic and a teaspoon of water and cook for another 15 minutes by which time you should have a sticky relish, taste it as you may need a drop or two more of balsamic.  Cook your steak how you like but rare to medium rare works best for this, then sprinkle with salt and leave to rest for at least 5 minutes.  Whilst it is resting preheat your grill to high, toast the bread and then divide the cheese between the two slices of toast and put under the grill until the cheese is melting.  Place your rested steak onto one slice of cheesy toast, spread over the onion relish and top with the remaining slice.  Cut in half and tuck in.

I recently attended the BBC Good Food Fair as a guest of Barbers1833 who kindly gave me some of their delicious cheddar which I used for this and several other recipes.  I was already a fan of their cheddar and regularly buy it from my local farmshop.  By the way, I have previously made my Cheese Sables with Rosemary Salt (December 2013) which rely on a belting cheddar, with Barbers1833 and they were amazing.

Cheese Biscuits 2

Onion Tart

Onion Tart_

As a child in Yorkshire we seemed to go to a lot of point-to-points.  I’m not sure why but it was definitely a feature of the winter months.  Parked in a field somewhere, there were always other children I knew to muck about with and best of all, the row upon row of open car boots which signalled the picnics, an obvious highlight.  Always hot sausages wrapped in a tinfoil parcel, soup of some description and of course the quiche.  My mother made a cracking quiche which was transported from the Aga into the back of the car so as to be still warm for lunch.  Crisp pastry, wobbly creamy custard and salty bacon, lovely.

Fast forward a couple of decades and maddeningly my children are not so keen on the old quiche, too much wobbly stuff in the middle apparently.  What they are mad about however is this onion tart, probably because it is very much an onion tart as opposed to an onion quiche.  I’m not sure it could hold its head up in the South of France as a pissaladiere but it is along those lines.  Slow cooked melting onions with salty savoury anchovies on crisp pastry.  Add black olives if you like, I sometimes do and sometimes don’t but I insist on the criss crossed anchovies even if it seems a little dated and similar may well have graced a 1970’s cooking article.

So, this is a tart I make all the time, whatever the weather.  It comes into play for lunch with a big salad, it has been on picnics (though no point-to-points yet) and has even made a star turn as a vegetarian main.  Where I find it most useful though is cut into small squares and served before lunch or supper – let me tell you, it goes down a storm.

I served this recently before Sunday lunch and couldn’t believe the speed with which all the children hoovered it up, seeking out the bits with the most anchovy which surprised me.   It may be one of the easiest warm canapés to serve with drinks too as you can make it ahead and then cook it just prior to serving – I promise your guests will love it.

Onion Tart 2

Onion Tart

As my family love the saltiness of the anchovies I boost this flavour by spreading a thin layer of anchovy paste on the pastry before putting the onions on top.  This addition is of course entirely up to you, the tart is delicious without it.  Either make your own pastry using a 200g flour to 100g fat ratio, or use ready made – half a 500g pack is about right.

2 large onions, or 4-5 normal size ones, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 egg, well beaten

2 tablespoons creme fraiche (or double cream if that is all you have)

250g (approx) shortcrust pastry, see introduction

Anchovy paste, optional, see introduction.

Preheat the oven to 200 and put a baking tray in the oven to heat up, this is to put the tart in its tin onto – the immediate heat will crisp the base.  Melt the butter with the oil in a medium size pan, add the chopped onions and the salt and cook gently until soft but not coloured which will take about half an hour.  Meanwhile roll out the pastry thinly and line a tin, around 18x30cm and put this into the fridge.  When the onions are a soft sludge put them into a bowl to cool for 10 minutes then mix in the egg and creme fraiche along with some black pepper.  If you are going to use the anchovy paste now is the time to spread a thin layer over the pastry then pour the onion mixture onto the pastry, level the surface and put in the oven (on the preheated baking tray) for 20 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes in the tin before carefully tipping onto a board and cutting up.  Makes about 24 small squares but really this is up to you.

Onion Tart 3