Lovely, lovely day, isn't it? I have a great many friends living the Caribbean and they are all really soggy because they had 20.5 inches of rain in 36 hours and here I am in “rainy old Britain” with this sort of weather going on.
Before I get onto lunch I must explain that last night I made Roasted Tomato Soup which went something like this.
With some of my Melba Toast experiments (French bread which I had hoped would make like a Pringle, but they didn’t), shaved Gran Padano and a glass of red it made a lovely, not too fattening, meal.
Roasted Tomato Soup
With some of my Melba Toast experiments (French bread which I had hoped would make like a Pringle, but they didn’t), shaved Gran Padano and a glass of red it made a lovely, not too fattening, meal.
500g cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onion – finely chopped
½ teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons tomato paste
300ml vegetable stock
2 teaspoons Sweet Chilli Sauce
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onion – finely chopped
½ teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons tomato paste
300ml vegetable stock
2 teaspoons Sweet Chilli Sauce
~ Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350°F/160ºC fan/gas 4.
~ Put the tomatoes on a lightly greased baking tray and roast for 20 minutes to half an hour till soft, squidgy and bursting.
~ Meanwhile (as we recipe writers say) soften the onion in the olive oil on a low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes. ~ Stir in the tomato paste and the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.
~ Add the roasted tomatoes, skin ‘n’ all, and the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
~ Cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
~ Stir in the Sweet Chilli Sauce and season to taste.
~ Smash up with a potato masher or liquidizer on a stick or purée in a food processor or similar.
~ Meanwhile (as we recipe writers say) soften the onion in the olive oil on a low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes. ~ Stir in the tomato paste and the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.
~ Add the roasted tomatoes, skin ‘n’ all, and the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
~ Cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
~ Stir in the Sweet Chilli Sauce and season to taste.
~ Smash up with a potato masher or liquidizer on a stick or purée in a food processor or similar.
Today, with about half a bow of soup left over I made myself some pancakes (too many actually) for lunch. All I did was leave out the sugar in my standard pancake recipe and use some tomato soup instead of milk to mix it.
Roasted Tomato Pancakes
This makes about five 3” pancakes.
125 g plain flour
a pinch of salt
1 rounded teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg
150 ml tomato soup
a little oil
a pinch of salt
1 rounded teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg
150 ml tomato soup
a little oil
~ Stir together the first 3 ingredients in a mixing bowl.
~ Male a well in the middle of the flour mixture.
~ Break the egg into the well.
~ Gently whisk the egg into the flour and, as it thickens, gradually add the soup still whisking, till you have a thickish pourable batter, if you run out of soup use a splash of water or milk. When all combined give an energetic whisk to aerate the batter.
~ Heat a medium sized non stick frying pan and oil lightly.
~ Pour a circle of batter in the pan and cook till the surface is pitted with little burst bubble holes.
~ Using a spatula or a deft flip of the wrist turn the pancake and cook till the other side is golden.
~ Serve immediately or keep in a warm oven till they are all done.
~ Male a well in the middle of the flour mixture.
~ Break the egg into the well.
~ Gently whisk the egg into the flour and, as it thickens, gradually add the soup still whisking, till you have a thickish pourable batter, if you run out of soup use a splash of water or milk. When all combined give an energetic whisk to aerate the batter.
~ Heat a medium sized non stick frying pan and oil lightly.
~ Pour a circle of batter in the pan and cook till the surface is pitted with little burst bubble holes.
~ Using a spatula or a deft flip of the wrist turn the pancake and cook till the other side is golden.
~ Serve immediately or keep in a warm oven till they are all done.
There is a strange shopping emporium in Liskeard, Cornwall called Trago Mills where wonderful bargains can be picked up. It is strange because the premises, which are set in deep wooded valley, all very attractive, are beset with sarcastic comments and statues such as these pictured below.
Copywright Chris Hoare and licenced under this Creative Commons Licence link http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/88390,
The premises are large and rambling and many years ago my sister and I would sometimes close our restaurant “for staff training” and take all the young people that worked for us (we were all of us well under 30 and several just over 16) to play hide and seek at Trago for the day. Can’t remember what we were training them for now!
Even if you don’t want to hide Trago is well worth a visit, selling lots of interesting things including very cheap boxes of broken biscuits either luxury all chocolate or slightly cheaper more basic broken biscuits. Unfortunately on our last hurried visit we bought the” wrong sort" and now can’t be bothered to eat them - we are keen to get into the box of the “right sort” that we now have thanks to our friend Carol. As a result yesterday I also made Chocolate Refrigerator Cake, or whatever it’s called, to use them up.
Recycled Biscuit Cake aka Tiffin
I had 200g of broken biscuits to use up and this, therefore, is the recipe …
150g dark chocolate
100g butter 2 good tablespoons of golden syrup
~ Break the biscuits into small pieces, if necessary.
~ Over a low heat melt together the dark chocolate, butter and golden syrup.
~ When completely smooth pour over the biscuits and stir to mix completely.
~ Turn into a suitable container – I like to use a silicone loaf “pan” – and chill till firm, at least 3 hours.
~ Slice into sort of glorified mega chocolate biscuits and enjoy with a black coffee on the side.
~ Over a low heat melt together the dark chocolate, butter and golden syrup.
~ When completely smooth pour over the biscuits and stir to mix completely.
~ Turn into a suitable container – I like to use a silicone loaf “pan” – and chill till firm, at least 3 hours.
~ Slice into sort of glorified mega chocolate biscuits and enjoy with a black coffee on the side.
I thought of all sorts of things that could be added; pecans, chopped white chocolate (OK, I’ll be honest as the camera never lies, I did put a wincy bit of white chocolate in), dried fruit, cherries etc. If I ever have a lot of broken ginger snaps I think I’ll try ginger syrup instead of golden syrup and add some chopped up ginger from the jar OR (I’m thinking all the time, me!) how about a spoonful of instant coffee melted into the chocolate to make Recycled Mocha Biscuit Cake?
I love leftovers so much I have a Pinterest board ...
I love leftovers so much I have a Pinterest board ...
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