Christmas

I have a few Christmas Books, and this year I looked at Elizabeth David's Christmas.

This lovely little hardback gives a collection of recipes and annecdotes from the wonderful writings of Elizabeth David, one of England's foremost cookery writers. Her books are a joy to read as books in themselves, and not necessarily cookery books.

I especially love her description of the perfect Christmas meal.

Sunday night

Tonight I needed to try out a new recipe. It was freezing today, so I turned to Clarissa Dickson-Wright for some Comfort Food. And what could be more comforting than bread and butter pudding?

I must say that even though this recipe has been around for seemingly decades and decades, I have never cooked this dish. I never wanted to, really. I always thought of it as old-fashioned English stodge food but I had a rather lovely apple and apricot loaf in the freezer that I didn't particularly know what to do with and thought, perhaps it would make a nice bread and butter pudding?

little buttered loaf islands soaking up the sweet eggy milk

The recipe couldn't have been simpler: buttered loaf and currants placed haphazardly in a dish, then pour in a good amount of milk and eggs with sugar. Let that soak for an hour before placing the dish in the oven to slowly meld and brown on top. For those who love this sort of dish, it was delicious. Very light - but that would depend upon the sort of bread used. Clarissa uses up leftover panatone and I think that would be perfect for this.

this is a bit blurred, but the bread  puffed up and was light as air

I love this book, and will be sharing quite a few more recipes with you as I cook my way through it. Clarissa has a no-nonsense approach, much like the woman herself. What you see is what you get. The food is simple, classic and delicious and evokes all those memories one has of dishes that mother or grandmother used to make.

The title says it all.

Zuricher Chocolate Tart

Last night I had an overwhelming desire to make something luxurious. Don't ask why, it just happened.

So I turned to a very sophisticated title that has been in my life for just under a year called Lindt's Chocolate Passion - Lindt's maitres chocolatiers share their recipes and techniques. My foodie cousin, Rebecca, sent me this book from America last Christmas. So gorgeous are the selection of recipes and photographs it is very difficult to look through it without craving chocolate. The scent of cocoa seems to waft from every page and literally compels one to go and reach for some chocolate, which is exactly what I did. A piece of Lindt dark was lurking in the cupboard for just such a craving.

So chose this yet untried recipe: Zuricher Chocolate Tart. The description - 'a sweet buttery-chocolate crust cradles the rich Lindt chcolate cream filling in this culinary tribute to Switzerland's largest city.' - is just another way of describing chocolate pie. I love pie.




(mine had a bit of an explosion) - oven temperature too hot 



First post

This is nothing new, nothing extraordinary. Actually, it is extra ordinary, i.e. ordinary ordinary. I'm simply going to cook my way through my cookery books.

I have been collecting cookery books for many years and I treasure them. I read them like novels and they sit on my shelves, like old friends to pick up and put down whenever the mood takes me. Like friends, I have some real favourites and others with whom I don't spend a lot of time. Some are like my family, my identity. They make me feel strong and sure of myself, and certain that when I cook those favourite recipes, things are right in my world. I can feed my family and nuture them with good food, made with love.

It's what I like to do. It makes me happy.