After this, knock the dough down again and divide into 6 equal portions. For each one, roll or gently pull into a round shape. I use a cake tin base as a guide. Carefully place each dough base onto a foil lined oven shelf, which has been oiled. Cover the base with sugo, leaving gaps. Then either leave as is to garnish with fresh ingredients after cooking or add the topping you desire: say mozzarella, black olives and herbs.
Month: April 2020
Self medication, Tim
Classic frozen margarita (approximate quantities): This was one of the two most useful things I learned from my year in South Texas (the other was hot sauce!). Put 200 ml tequila (eg, Cuervo / Sauza gold) + 75 ml Cointreau or Grand Marnier + 500 ml still, fresh lemonade (M&S) + the juice of …
Apple tart
Mother made lovely pastry but I didn’t learn to make it myself until I was on my own with a copy of French Country Cooking (Elizabeth David) and a Baby Belling. I used to choose the easy recipes, the ones which needed no baking beans and resting times and so I favoured Tarte aux Pommes …
Pot roast pheasant
One pheasant left at the back of the freezer drawer! These days I buy them in the supermarket and freeze a couple when the season is ending. But there was a time when my father used to bring home a brace on Friday nights (price: £1 ) and we would pluck them and draw (gut) …
Haddock with lentils and capers, John
Growing up in Grimsby, haddock was a staple food and has always been a big favourite with me. Although a member of the cod family, it was pretty much universally preferred, to the point of being almost a form of currency. People would turn up with a parcel of haddock, in much the same way …
Almost blinis
Almost blinis Now is the time to get out that jar of caviar! This started out as a way of using up pancake batter (it doesn’t keep because of the raw eggs). But now I think I prefer the salty savoury taste of blini. Good for a weekend brunch or evening snack. Ingredients: 3 parts …
Chocolate and almond loaf cake, Aspa
On Day 14 of lockdown I felt the urge to bake a cake using whatever ingredients I could find in my larder. I hadn’t been able to find any flour in my local shops but luckily there was a packet of organic wholemeal rye flour, long forgotten in my cupboard. On the back of it …
Lamb hotpot
Return to the casserole and its layer of oniony leeks. Follow this with a layer of potatoes then carrots. In this way use up all the vegetables save one sliced potato, Arrange the meat on top of the layers of vegetables and pour over the contents of the pan, it should just reach the meat. Then overlap the discs of potato around the casserole, leaving an uncovered circle in the centre.
American pancakes
“Just remember it’s a quarter of a pound of flour to half a pint of milk and two eggs”, said my aunty Jenny over the phone. Plus butter for the pan. And that’s it, the classic English pancake recipe. Makes a lacy, beautiful thing. Mother liked them rolled around home made jam, aunty and grandma …
Cooking for one 