“One day Jim Duffy came by my carrel in the Eisenhower Library. Duffy was a Tulane graduate, steeped in southern history and politics. He said “Cynthia’s doing a red beans and rice number. You come along now”. What did I know about red beans? I was English. I knew about baked beans. That night - …
Month: April 2020
Leek and potato soup
Mother took her culinary influences from Constance Spry, Elizabeth David and her own well travelled life. Nobody could have criss-crossed the world much more than she had to. But this is what we ate in England, during the two very cold years we stayed at home in Gravesend. I have been making versions of it …
Lambs liver and mash, Judith
"In normal times I might cook this only twice a year, mainly because it is no longer fashionable. This week I cooked it up on Easter Monday and ate the leftovers again for dinner on Tuesday. When I was growing up we often had liver and onions for our main evening meal. My parents ran …
Leftover spaghetti sauce
Left over lentil ragu is very accommodating. It can go under a duck breast or pork chop. But here I have used it to make spaghetti sauce:
Wild garlic and parmesan muffins
Turn the buttery garlic and courgette mixture into the bowl of flour. Give it a stir. Then add the egg and cheese. Gently fold the ingredients together until the mixture is more or less evenly distributed lumps. If it seems dry, add a small amount of water or milk.
Anchovy pizza
I have been getting to grips with pizza for some time now, often unsuccessfully. Here is my latest attempt - no cheese and with plenty of leeway on the topping ingredients. Sardines would make a nice alternative to anchovies - black olives too (I don't have any right now) Base: 500g plain flour, 30ml …
Asparagus quiche
My lovely daughter left some shopping on my doorstep - eggs, cheese, flour and a bunch of asparagus. The quiche made here is small but took me two days to eat, so would be fine for two people. The recipe owes a lot to Elizabeth David, and to Anna Thomas. I have been making versions …
Vegetable “moussaka”
The word “Moussaka” is probably misleading here because this dish is a product of Britain in the early 1970s when aubergines and even courgettes were exotic veg. (What a waste, when it could have been a proper marrow?) I first ate lamb moussaka at the home of my tutor, as cooked for us by his …
Tortillapatis
In the 1950s we lived in the Khuzestan desert. Despite the scorching heat my baby brother used to hang with the old men behind our house, speaking Persian and spending the day cooking chapatis. Theirs were soft and doughy while the ones they made for my mother were crisp. I can still taste them now. …
Sugo
A few of these recipes call for sugo. Sugo is just a Neapolitan home-cooked tomato sauce which is used as a base for many pizza and pasta dishes. Needless to say mine is not in any way authentic but I'm adding it here so you can find it without having to plough through other recipes …
Cooking for one 