Catherine's best baked eggs

For starter or light meal, serve one egg for each person. For a main meal for hungry and hardworking folk, you can put two large eggs in some or all of the pots.
Preheat the oven to 180º/350º/Gas 4.

You will need:

Ramekins or other small oven-proof dishes, one for each person.

Ingredients:

• Eggs: one or two per person, as explained above.
• Tzatziki: about a teaspoon per person.
• Double cream: about two tsp per person.
• Seasalt

Method

1. Break one or two eggs into each small oven-proof dish.
2. Blob a small spoonful of tzatziki into the egg white (anywhere: no need to spread it).
3. Grind a little salt over the egg.
4. Pour enough double cream over the top to more or less cover the surface. (Do this slowly: the cream will rise to the surface after a moment. Don't put more than you need).
5. Stand the dishes on a baking tray. Some people say you should put some hot water in the tray but that will slow the cooking down and makes little difference to how much they stick. 
6. Bake in the oven until the top rises and browns a little. About 10 to 15 minutes I guess.
7. Serve the eggs in the dishes, on a larger plate with toast fingers and garnish for a starter, or on a larger plate with vegetables and side dishes for a main meal.

Note: The cream is to prevent the top of the eggs going leathery: it can't be omitted. A little grated cheese can be used instead if you have no cream.

Vegetable pie

First, make either shortcrust pastry, or puff pastry:

Shortcrust pastry:

• 8 oz / 200g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 4 oz / 100 g margarine
• 2-3 tbsp cold water

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Chop the margarine up into small pieces, add them to the bowl and rub in carefully using your fingertips, until you obtain breadcrumb consistency.
2.  Make a well in the mixture and pour in 2 tbsp cold water. Mix with a knife and then your hands, to form a firm dough. Add more water if needed. 
3. Cover in cling film and place in fridge until ready to roll out.

Easy puff pastry (enough for 2 pies!):

• 250g strong plain flour
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 250g butter, at room temperature, but not soft
• about 150ml cold water

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Break the butter up into fairly small pieces, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely and briefly using your fingertips. Stop while you can still see bits of butter.
2. Make a well in the mixture and pour two-thirds of the cold water, then mix until you have a firm dough, adding extra water if needed. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 20 mins.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle. Roll *in one direction only*, keeping the edges straight, until 3 times the width, so about 20 x 50cm. You should still see the butter in streaks.
4. Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again in the same way, to three times the length. Fold again as before, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.

Next, once you have the pastry, make a white sauce:

1. melt 1 1/2 oz / 40 g butter or margarine over a low heat, then add the same quantity of plain flour and stir for a couple of minutes. 
2. Next, very gradually add not-quite-a-pint / 500 ml milk, stirring continually. Keep stirring until the sauce boils and thickens. Simmer gently for 2 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Next, in a reasonably deep pie dish, place chopped vegetables (examples: carrot, celeriac, broccoli, leek, celery, parsnip, peppers...)

Cover the vegetables with the white sauce. Add herbs or other seasoning if you like.

Roll out the pastry thinly (5 mm / 1/4 in) and form a round slightly bigger than your pie dish. Trim the edges off it, and stick the bits you have cut off onto the edge of your pie dish, which you have dampeed with a little water. Brush the strip with water, and cover the pie with the remaining pastry. Pressthe edges together, knock up (bash the edges with the back of a knife) and flute (make the edges pretty by pinching with your fingertips). Brush the pie top with beaten egg and decorate with any scraps of pastry that are left, made into a nice shape.

Bake at 190 ºC for 40-50 minutes.

Mushrooms in sour cream

A wonderful little recipe from the Home Gardeners' Cook Book

Serves 2-3

8 oz mushrooms (250g)
2 oz butter (50 g)
1 large carrot
4 tbsp sour cream
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Wipe and slice the mushrooms, stalks and all.
2. Heat the butter in a small pan and add the mushrooms.
3. Peel the carrot and grate it into the pan.
4. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes tossing occasionally.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream. 
6. Season to taste with salt and ground pepper.

Serve hot. This can be served as a starter as it is, or as a veg accompaniment, or serve it over a hot hard boiled egg (one per person, halved) on top of couscous or rice or mashed potato, for a perfectly delicious dinner.

Gigantes plaki (BBC version)

Recipe from BBC good food magazine sept 2009.


400g dried butter beans
3 tbsp Greek extra virgin olive oil , plus more to serve
1 Spanish onion , finely chopped
2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato purée
800g ripe tomatoes , skins removed, roughly chopped (or use 2 tins of tomatoes)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch ground cinnamon
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley , plus extra to serve

1. Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. Drain, rinse, then place in a pan covered with water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, then simmer for approx 50 mins until slightly tender but not soft. Drain, then set aside.
2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, tip in the onion and garlic, then cook over a medium heat for 10 mins until softened but not browned. Add the tomato purée, cook for a further min, add remaining ingredients, then simmer for 2-3 mins. Season generously, then stir in the beans. Tip into a large ovenproof dish, then bake for approximately 1 hr, uncovered and without stirring, until the beans are tender. The beans will absorb all the fabulous flavours and the sauce will thicken. Allow to cool, then scatter with parsley and drizzle with a little more olive oil to serve.

Cheese and spinach potato bake

Made this up today to feed a vegetarian friend. It also went down well with meat-eaters among the guests, and the 8-month-old baby present. Essentially, it's potatoes boulangere turned into a complete meal.

2lb of potatoes - or more or less to feed more/fewer people
1 or more onions
fresh or frozen spinach - if fresh, more than you think you need because it goes down to nothing
cheese - I used a mixture of mozzarella, goat's cheese and parmesan
milk and/or cream

Wash the spinach, then pan on a low heat with no additional water if you can help it. Cook it in batches if your pan is too small. When it has collapsed, squeeze out as much of the water as possible using a sieve, chop and reserve. Slice the potatoes thinly and store in a bowl of water to keep them from oxidising. Slice the onion thinly. Grate the cheese.

Heat the milk and/or cream and soft cheese/goat's cheese/other cheese in a pan until the cheese has melted. You could add an egg.

Butter a large shallow oven dish - or a smaller deeper one. Layer the potatoes, onion and spinach in the dish. You could put some grated cheese in one of the layers. Pour over the milk mixture. Sprinkle any remaining cheese on top.

Bake in the oven at 180C/gas mark 4 for 1 1/2 hours, approximately. It will look after itself.

Gruyere and Parmesan Allumettes

aka fancy cheese straws

110g/4oz Gruyere, finely grated
25g/1 oz freshly grated Parmesan
110g/4oz strong white flour
75g/ 3 oz butter, diced
a pinch of cayenne pepper
seasoning
a little beaten egg

Put the flour, Gruyere, butter and seasonings into a medium-sized bowl, then rub in until the mixture starts to form clumps. Form into a ball. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes (optional but I think it makes it easier).

Preheat oven to 180C/Gas mark 4. Grease two baking sheets.

Transfer the dough to a flour-dusted board or surface, knead lightly again, then roll out into an oblong approx 20x30cm. Trim the edges. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with Parmesan. Cut into allumettes/straws 5mm wide and 10cm long - or any other length you like! Use a palette knife to transfer to the greased baking sheet and spread out a little if you can be bothered.

Bake for 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight tin.

Cheese bread and butter pudding

Ingredients:

Six slices of mature bread
Butter
6 oz grated cheese
1/2 pint of milk
2 eggs
Salt, pepper and mustard powder.

Butter an oven proof dish. Butter the slices of bread thickly. Cut them into triangles.
Lay some triangles butter side down in the dish to cover the base.
Sprinkle thickly with most of the grated cheese.
Add the rest of the bread butter side up, and sprinkle with a little cheese.
Measure the milk into a measuring jug and break the eggs into it. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and mustard powder to taste. Beat well with a fork and pour the custard over the bread.

Leave to soak for an hour or more.

Bake at 425º F, 220ºC, gas mark 7, for 30 minutes.
Serve at once, piping hot.

Vegetarian Pastitsio

6oz lentils
1 large aubergine
3 tsbp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
2 onions
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic
8 medium tomatoes or 2lb can of tomatoes
8oz tomato puree
2-4oz grated parmesan
1lb noodles

Custard sauce:
3 tbsp butter
1 1/4 pints milk
3 eggs
3 tbsp flour

1. Wash lentils and soak in 1 1/4 pints boiling water.
2. Put in pot with salt and olive oil, cook 30-45 mins until the water is almost gone.
3. Heat olive oil and butter in a saucepan, add onions, aubergine, garlic and seasoning. Cover and saute for 10 mins.
4. Add tomatoes and lentils. Cook until thick, add tomato puree and check seasoning.
5. Boil noodles until still stiff (10-12 mins).
6. Layer noodles, parmesan and sauce in large greased dish.
7. Make custard sauce using roux method. Whisk in heated milk. Beat eggs in bowl and beat sauce in slowly.
8. Pour over casserole and allow it to soak to the bottom. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake for 1h at 400F/200C/Gas 6.

Savoury cheese and onion pie

Shortcrust pastry made with:
8oz plain flour
6oz butter
lemon juice

10oz cheese, (1/2 gruyere)
2 tbsp flour
2 large onions
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp chopped basil
2 large firm tomatoes
2 large eggs
1/4 pint cream
nutmeg

Line flan dish with shortcrust pastry. Grate cheese and toss with flour. Slice onions and saute in butter gently (1/2 hour). Spread 1/2 of cheese on bottom of pie dish, then spread onions over. Slice tomatoes and heat in butter. Arrange on top of onions. Cover with remaining cheese. Beat eggs with cream and pour over cheese. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake 35-40 mins Gas 6/200C.

Annie's "boh" Chick Peas

Another recipe somewhat related to the previous one…

Tomato sauce (homemade with tomato, onion, garlic etc, or from a bottle if cheating)
Spices: cumin, cinnamon, a little cayenne pepper if desired, and "massalé" (coriander, turmeric, cumin, aniseed, mustard seed, fennel, cloves).
Chick peas (250g) ready boiled.

Combine all ingredients and heat through. Serve with rice and spinach with cream and nutmeg.