The UN has become concerned about food wastage, but this is not something new as September 29 is IDAFLW ( International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Wastage) a bit of a mouthful but !

735 MILLION people go hungry everyday, with over 1Billion edible meals being just thrown away.

In the UK, we throw away 9.5million Tonnes of food each year, enough to feed 30 million people and yet there are over 8 million who live in food poverty. The numbers are staggering.

I do not throw food away, maybe I am of a different generation, my parents grew their own, potatoes were kept in a cool dark place, apples were wrapped in newspaper and also put in a dark cool place, beans/peas/carrots were bottled ( no freezer, nor refrigerator), and yet we always ate well, so why is it today with ready meals, fresh foods, frozen foods has it become such a wasteland of food?

Part of the reason, is food labelling, even the willowy brunette throws a fit if she even sees an egg that is one day older than the date on it, and yet that was not how she was raised. In the US, there are over 50 food labels, which adds to the confusion and yet for the most part it is not science based. There is an old adage which says give it a sniff test !

Interestingly, in the US eggs need to be refrigerated, whereas in Europe they do not! Why? All commercial eggs in Europe are from hens that have been vaccinated against Salmonella, the eggs are not washed and therefore retain their protective outer sheath ( you can’t see it), whereas in the US , hens are not vaccinated , the eggs washed and so removing the outer protective layer, which means that they need to be refrigerated! The stamp on EU eggs, state, Country/ farmer/ type of farm and date. Battery farming of chickens and eggs is banned. There is a simple test for eggs at least. Simply fill a bowl with water place the egg in; if it sinks, it’s fresh, if it stands upright, it’s still safe but not fresh, And if it floats, it’s no longer good to eat. Now that is easy !

As I just said, I do not throw food away food away, even a lettuce that is looking a bit tired, gets a second life, by being put in the freezer, ready to be put into some form of soup! Himself often has soup for lunch, especially in the winter, and if I can’t think of a particular type of soup to make, it becomes REFRIGERATOR SOUP, ie, anything that needs using goes into the soup. On that theme, one of my freezers was badly in need of of a defrost! And what did I find, frozen lettuce/ coriander and spinach. Soup called! So using the frozen ingredients, I added frozen peas and frozen green beans! Another refrigerator soup was made!

And then I made some mango chutney. Why ? I had a delivery of mangoes from Spain ( Crowdfarming) and had left them on the counter top to ripen, therefore time to make some chutney.

• 3 firm mangoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 150 mls vinegar ( preferably cider)
• 130 grms dark brown sugar
• Small chunk fresh ginger grated
• A crushed clove of garlic
• 1/2tsp coriander powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 small chopped chilli

Put the mango and vinegar into a pan and cook gently for about 10 minutes. Add everything else, bring to the boil, stir to mix, reduce heat and cook gently for about 30 minutes. By this time it should be a thickish gluey mixture. Leave to cool a bit before pouting into clean sterilised jars.

Not long life, but too yummy to leave lying around! As this makes a small amount, I refrigerate one jar and freeze it the other !

Going on from chutney making, I decided to cook salmon for dinner, but inspired by my semi Indian chutney I need to make the salmon a bit Indian as well! With thanks to Gurdeep Loyal, I adapted his sauce. His recipe for Kopi( coffee) seared salmon. I didn’t have an ingredient called Kecap Manis, but discovered alternatives, using in my case several pantry staples.

• 2 tablespoon sriracha
• 2 tablespoons of this mixture, maple syrup, brown sugar,dark soy sauce.
• 2 tsp instant espresso powder
• A knob of ginger grated of a 1 tsp ginger powder
• 2-3 cloves garlic pressed
• 2 tablespoon honey
• Zest and juice of lemon.
• A dash sesame oil
• Pinch of salt
• Some toasted sesame seeds

Simply mix all of the above, and leave to blend together.

Using a non stick pan, heat just a little oil and put your salmon fillets skin side down. Cook for about 5 minutes until the skin is crisp , flip over cook for 30 seconds or so and then turn back.

Pour the sauce over the salmon, cook for another minute or so, don’t have the temperature too hot though. Serve on a bed of rice, or as I did on a bed of fishy risotto! ( fresh from the freezer! Or with broccoli or spinach or hispi cabbage ! ( I am in love with hispi cabbage!) And don’t forget to garnish!

I do have lots more to say, but enough is enough, so Bonne Appetite! Et à la prochaine!

OLD FASHIONED ?

I read the other day that English Heritage is concerned that traditional English dishes will soon not be cooked anymore, and as such have issued a new cookbook ( which I have ordered out of curiosity) , but also found that the Germans have also published such a book “GERMAN HERITAGE BAKING”.

Looking at my own book shelves I find that I have many really old recipe books some dating back to 1868! This particular one has such delights as Ox Head soup and boiled Turkey. Not sure I am about to cook either of these! However, items such as Ginger Snaps, Trifle, Meringues, Spotted Dick and Rock Cakes, the recipes are there, so maybe they will be included in the new cook book from English Heritage.

One of the books I have is a hand written notebook, complete with newspaper cuttings from 1923. It also included advice on hair brushing ( a cause of dandruff?) how to deal with snake bites, make ginger cake and even better FAGGOTS! If you have never heard of them, don’t worry, they are a bit like meat balls!

Back in London, my English Heritage cookbook arrived, well the first one went walkabout but dear Amazon sent an instant replacement. It is a nice enough little book, but I found some errors! Firstly though this not an error, there no temperatures given for Fan Ovens, which I personally would prefer and also temperatures not in Fahrenheit, which many people do still use. So that is me being picky! However two recipes which are not part of the English Heritage, firstly Brownies. Brownies were invented in the USA, in the late 19th century with the first recipe for Chocolate Brownies appearing in the Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking School cook book!

The next issue is Clafoutis, this again is not English ( Limousin France mid 19th Century) the first time I heard of Clafoutis was when our Belgian au pair gave me her family cookbook, in which there was a recipe for Clafoutis, which is my Go To recipe even today. Traditionally it is made with unpitted Black cherries ( I always use pitted cherries, otherwise watch out for your teeth). It can of course be made with other fruits, but then it should be called Flaugnard.

Next up is Tiffin, Tiffin according to Hobson-Jobson the definite glossary of British India, Tiffin, was in Hindustani India, a verb meaning to take luncheon. Apparently the shorter form Tiff could mean a small drink. Hence, on page 90 of the English Heritage book, it is written that it became a No bake chocolate snack. Maybe so, I can not find a reference to this but the mistake in this recipe is that it says “ Preparation time 15 minutes, Cooking time 2 hours” you can be forgiven for misunderstanding, it should have said “ Refrigeration time 2 Hours “!

Looking through the book again, I can see that the following are included, Rock Cakes, Spotted Dick, Trifle ( though made with jelly/ jello, that is a No No in my book!) Ginger Drops ( not Ginger Snaps). So if you really want to bake some traditional recipes, it is worth a look, though I think it is much more fun to find some really old recipe books! I even have found one from my college days ! Another couple of other inclusions, which were regulars of our Sunday afternoon teas, were Butterfly cakes and Battenberg cake! Don’t know what they are?

So enough, is enough and onwards and upwards! A simple recipe that I have forgotten about, is Rice Pudding ! It was once a staple of family meals, not a savoury rice as we tend to eat today ( not sure that my mother knew about stir fried rice and such). My Mother in law certainly would have made this in large quantities for her 5 sons! And whenever it is in the menu at a restaurant ( rarely) he will have it! The last time was in Windermere, where we were for his birthday last year!

Rice pudding in the old fashioned way is Oh So easy, not labour intensive at all, simply follow a few steps, throw it in the oven and leave for 1/12- 2 Hours! Can be served with a fruit compote if you want to jazz it up, or with even more cream poured over !

• 150 grms Pudding Rice
• 100 grams sugar
• 125 grms butter
• 1 litre full fat milk
• 150 mls thick cream
• Grated nutmeg

Heat the oven to 120C ( fan)/140C or Gas #1.

Melt the butter, add the rice and sugar, stir until the rice swells a little. Add the milk, stir and then the cream, stir until a bit sticky. Pour into a baking dish and grate nutmeg over the top. Bake and EAT ( warm is best)!

We have been having a SMASHING time here in the mountains and I do mean smashing! Not however in the sense of have fun ( though we have) but in the sense of smashing glass! The first to go were some Val St. Lambert glasses, the second just some Ikea ones and thirdly, totally my fault, a shelf in the refrigerator crashed, spilling pesto and tomato sauce everywhere! This was all exacerbated by having a stone floor and despite our best efforts, tiny slivers of glass keep on appearing, even after several days of diligent cleaning !

Meanwhile, the other day I decided we were going to have duck breasts marinated in Teriyaki Sauce, but unfortunately I didn’t have any, despite having all sorts of odds and ends. Never fear, as it is very easy to make it yourself ( obviously if you have the correct ingredients to hand!)

• 1Cup of water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce ( any kind will work)
• 2+tablespoons of runny honey
• 1/2 Teaspoons ginger powder or minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 Cup dark brown sugar
• ( 2 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup cold water)

Very simply tip all of the above into a saucepan and heat gently whilst stirring from time to time, OR put all into a microwave container, heat on high for one minute intervals , stir and repeat )until fairly thick. Leave to cool. Use as a marinade for whatever you need Teriyaki sauce for. Me? I used it to marinate duck breasts which we then grilled on a BBQ. I added to the sauce some cooked noodles, which were then tossed in a wok with some oriental type vegetables. The duck breasts were then cut and add to the above mixture. If you can get frozen oriental type veg, then dinner will take less time.

Next up was ice cream ! With 6 grandkids in the house it seemed appropriate! Himself, once upon a time was called the Ice Cream mouse! He had been known to snuggle up with the Great Dane called Freddy when everyone else slept and tuck into a 5 gallon tub of Peach ice cream that the kids had bought him for his birthday, but that was a long time ago , now it seems that he is more reticent about that particular indulgence!

So I made coconut ice cream, once again extremely easy if you own any sort of ice cream maker, but just a tad more time consuming if you don’t.

To make approximately 1 litre you will need

• 3 large eggs
• 100 grams caster sugar
• 500 mls thick cream ( sometimes the large carton of cream is 600 mls, use that and less milk.
• 250 mls full fat milk ( use half to mix with coconut powder if using)
• Half a cup / 5 tablespoons of coconut milk powder OR 1/2 can of coconut milk cream

This is the cream base and is the basis for many ice cream flavours. Whisk the eggs together along with the sugar ( I use a food processor) and then add the cream and milk. Finally add the coconut, either the powder which has been dissolved or the canned coconut cream. Pour into your chosen method of freezing. Without an ice cream machine, pour into a polythene box, freeze for about 2 hours, then scrape out the semi frozen mixture into a bowl , whisk well and return to the freezer. At this semi frozen state it is possible to use some lolly pop moulds. The brand Lekué make some very nice ones.

On balance I think the coconut cream either from a can or a packet gives a better flavour than the powder.Coconut powder looks a bit like icing sugar !

Of course other flavours are available and the book which I really love is this one! Published by Ben and Jerry in 1987, long before they sold out to UNILEVER! I bought my first copy probably in 1987, but my second copy , which I now keep in France from the Oxfam bookstore!

For the last few weeks at least there has not been much cooking, though some cooking, of course, some experimentation , some almost disaster, and some eating, but good and very special eating.

We decamped to Normandy for a long weekend. Left London at 5 am, Mr.Waze directed us down through south London ( normally to be avoided because of congestion but at 5 am, a breeze!) onto Le Shuttle ( aka the Channel Tunnel). We both asked the question “ How many times have we crossed this bit of water”? I wish we could back calculate, 50 plus years! For me it started during college days, working for the RAC ( a members club which supported their members driving to what we called The Continent) I went to France every day, meeted and greeted the members, bought my French bread and returned! What an easy job that was !

However, Himself thought it a good idea to have a little Jolly in Normandy, where we once lived ( a lifetime ago). He booked it all including a Michelin starred restaurant and also at the oldest restaurant in France, La Couronne, founded in 1345! It overlooks la Place du Vieux Marché , which is where Joan of Arc was executed in 1431, in Rouen.

A market is still held there but under the overhangs of the ( to my mind at least, ugly) Joan of Arc church, which takes up the whole square.

We ate in a very small Michelin starred restaurant, called L’Odas, it had maybe only 18 covers inside ( a few more out but of course weather dependent). All of the tables had a view of the kitchen and apart from deciding between 3,5,or7 courses, that was it, the kitchen decided on the menu and so we sat there and were fed! We chose the 7 course but not with Lobster, as himself is less than keen! The ingredients for our dinner were as far as possible locally sourced, I will included some photos, as it was a beautiful dinner both in appearance and in taste.

After this wonderful dinner, where they even gave me a birthday dessert and candle , we spent the following day wandering around the Normand countryside, ( always beautiful in the sunshine ) .

We found where we had lived , the hotel owned by the refinery ( now a Best Western) the refinery which is now huge, and the car ferry across the Seine, still running , so of course we had to go on it! We wandered over to Pont Audemer a small town I went to every Friday, Market day ! Nothing has changed, some of the shops, one could be forgiven that we were still in the 1950’s! Fashionista’s certainly not !

Back to Rouen for dinner. We arrived on time and Madam who must have been close to 100, in her Chanel-esq baby blue mini skirt suit along with the 6 “ stilettos, tottered up the rickety stairs in front of us! I commented that she got plenty of exercise with those stairs, her snooty reply was “ Moi, je ne suis Jamais allé à une sale de sport! “ ( she has never been to a gym!)

Our dinner was nice, for me the best part was the Fois Gras, it was yummy indeed, but the Riz de veau was interesting but not as described on the menu. The real interesting part was the couple on the adjacent table ordering the specialty of the house and with the English translation was The Genuine Squized Duck ( and not that is not a spelling mistake)

In fact it is a Pressed Duck, but is often done table side and became very popular in the UK during the Edwardian era. The duck is partly cooked, the breasts served and then the rest of it is put into a Duck Press to extract all of the blood and juices from the carcass. Then all of that is combined with various other ingredients including Cognac ( or Calvados) and Madeira to make a rich sauce. I am sure it is lovely but I was not tempted to try it! Very elaborate and a lot of it! The most interesting part though is the Duck Press! I DONT HAVE ONE!

Meanwhile back at base I made a spinach Swiss Roll, I had been wanting to make this for a long time and as we were having guests for dinner decided that now was the time.

It looks amazing and is very easy to make and the bonus is it can be made head of time and frozen ! What’s not to like?

• A packet fresh cleaned spinach (+/-250 grams
• 5O grams herbs, such as basil, dill coriander
• Pinch salt
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 40 grams plain flour
• Tsp baking powder
• 200 grams of fish, maybe hot smoked salmon, trout, mackerel, or just smoked salmon.
• 250 grams full fat cream cheese
• 2 tsp of rose harissa ( optional)
• Heat the oven to 170 fan/ 180
• Pop the spinach still in the bag onto a microwave and cook on high for about 3 minutes. Chop the herbs. Empty the spinach into a colander and press out the liquid, add the herbs and mix. Line a baking tray with either greaseproof paper. Or oven proof cling film ( I use cling film as it is easy to mould into the pan).
• When the spinach has cooled put into a blender along with the egg yolks, salt, herbs, flour and baking powder. Process until it is smooth.
• Meanwhile whisk the egg whites until very stiff and fold them into the spinach mixture. Tip this into the tin and spread out gently to cover the whole pan.Bake for about 10-12 minutes.
• In the meantime put your filling ingredients into a blender along with the cream cheese. Mix well, taste add some salt and maybe a drop or two of lemon juice and the rose harissa if using.
• Tip the CAKE out carefully onto a cooling tray/ rack. When cool spread the filling over the sponge and roll it up starting at one of the short ends, so that you have what looks like a green Swiss Roll !
• Now if you want to, wrap it in cling film and a polythene bag and freeze. I wouldn’t freeze it long term but good for a week or two.
• To serve, cut into slices, garnish and I made a horseradish cream by adding a tsp of white wine, a tsp of Dijon mustard, a dollop of cream and some lemon juice to 3 tablespoons of creamed horseradish. Of course you could just use creamed horseradish straight from a jar!

Maybe not everyone will have heard of Tarte Tatin, but in the francophone world it usually means basically a posh Apple Tart, almost an upside down rich apple tart. But with everything nowadays, there are many variations on a theme and a couple of years ago I made an onion one, and also a shallot version.

However, the other day I went to an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in central London to see, not the Crown Jewels but the Cartier Exhibition, most of which I did not covet, I certainly do not go to events that require a tiara and as beautiful as the serpent necklace was, I could not envisage wearing something that had 2,473 diamonds! Apart from anything else, would be just a tad scratchy ( and besides going on the tube wearing it, would not be a good idea)!

I digress, my friend and I had lunch in the members dining room room ( an oasis of calm) where I had what was basically a tomato tart Tatin with rocket salad. And so I decided to make one at home!

For the onion and tomato Tatin it easy to cheat by using ready made pastry but for the Apple version I would seriously recommend that you make your own. Apart from the wonderful juices soaking into a rich buttery pastry, it doesn’t matter if the pastry doesn’t look good, simply because the apples are on top!

I always use an absolute idiot proof recipe for pastry, many many thanks to Simca, it was her that basically said throw it all into a food processor , but when I think about it , when I was teaching in the most dreadful school in Vauxhall London, Blue Band margarine came out with “All in one” method (and I still have the pamphlet ), but back then there were no food processors or Thermomixers, just do it all by hand !

For the pastry (Sweet short pastry)

• 2 cups ( 250grams) Plain flour
• 2 tablespoons of caster sugar ( omit the sugar for savoury dishes)
• 140 grams unsalted butter ( cut into chunks)
• 1teaspoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoons Cream beaten with the yolk of an egg
• Put the dry ingredients into a food processor along with the butter and and blend on high for a couple of minutes ( you can rub the butter in by hand ) until it looks like very fine breadcrumbs DO NOT OVER PROCESS!
• With the machine running, slowly pour in the cream/ egg mixture, it will quickly form a ball , which will go Bump Bump ! Switch off. Tip out onto a floured surface and knead gently to incorporate all of the flour. If a tad dry, add a few drops of cream, the dough should be soft but not wet and all of the flour mixed in. The dough can be used straight away but might benefit from being put into a plastic bag and refrigerated for half an hour or so.
• This pastry, omitting the sugar can be used for both the Tomato and onion tart.

To make a Tarte Tatin, preheat the oven to200 c/400f/ gas 6.

Peel and core 6 eating apples ( Note NOT Cooking Apples) and cut them into quarters.

Melt about 100 grams of butter ( I use unsalted) in a heavy pan ( I use a cast iron frying pan, a shallow LeCreuset pan would work well. Add about 100 grams caster sugar and on a medium heat let the sugar melt into the butter and heat gently so that it caramelises, take care not to let it burn. Add the apples and arrange them carefully, as it is an upside down tart, so they will become the top. pack them in tightly. cook over a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, shaking now and again so that they don’t burn.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface so that it is roughly the size of your pan ( slightly larger) . Place the pastry on top of the apples and tuck in the edges. prick with a fork a few time and bake for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden.

Remove from the oven, leave to cool for about 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the tart and invert it onto a round serving plate/ dish. Serve warm along with ice cream/ cream or crème fraiche. YUMMY.

For a Tomato tart, you will need a quantity of pastry and for this to make life easy you can use ready made. You can make a large one but I like to make individual ones.

Start by making some Confit tomatoes and this will make more than you will need. Preheat the oven to 110C or 90 C fan oven. Arrange a kilo of tomatoes which have been cut in half, cut side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add some squashed cloves of garlic then pour over 200 mls olive oil and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Cook for about 2 hours. Pack into sterilised jars, along with any juices and the olive oil. Cool and store in the refrigerator.

However, to make life even easier, and especially if you are only going to make a couple of little tarts and therefore a Kilo of tomatoes is too much, simply pore some olive oil ( enough to cover the bottom of the pan) heat until sizzling, add the tomatoes cut in half, cut side down. Reduce heat and cook very very gently until cooked.

Rollout a quantity of pastry and line a tart pan(s) which has been greased. Spread over the pastry a quantity of either Tapenade, or roasted red pepper paste ( both were bought) and top this with the tomatoes. Add a sprinkle of Herbes ’ de Provence, a few sprigs of thyme. Bake at 200 C/ 180 fan for about 15-20 minutes for individual tarted or marginally longer for a large tart.

For the onion tart, simply gently partly cook the onions in some butter ( either shallots or brown skin onions cut in half). In the bottom of the pastry case some onion chutney as a basis for the onions to sit on.Top this with the partially cooked onions and bake as above.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a little green salad.