ofm top twenty: bacon and egg pie

 

another egg focused recipe, although hen’s rather than quail this time, not least because i accidently ordered a tray of 30 eggs rather than my usual box of 6! still, this margot henderson egg and bacon pie, which is part of the ofm top twenty, has made a decent dent in my stash as it uses 11 eggs.

the recipe is described as “an old school pie from new zealand: you are not a proper mother if you don't pack your kids off with bacon and egg pie for their sports day” so i was intrigued as my childhood eggy packed lunch, and much-loved it was, was my mum’s cheese and onion pie. 

so, how did i get on?

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roasted squash and caramelised onion galette

 

i’m not a big fan of pastry but have found that smitten kitchen has some interesting pastries that are both easy to make and delicious – her empanada pastry is wonderfully light and flaky (it’s unusual for including vinegar) and, as i discovered last night, so too is the pastry she uses to make this roasted squash and caramelised onion galette.

in this case the unusual aspect is the use of sour cream (although i swapped this for greek yoghurt as that was all i had in) and lemon juice. again it is a light, flaky pastry and a great contrast to the soft sweet squash and onions. 

i’m looking forward to making different versions of this galette – spanakopita flavours of spinach and feta is an obvious choice but i also like the idea of roasted peppers, courgettes and aubergine; or something with lamb, pomegranate molasses and pine nuts. what do you think would be good?

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jerusalem artichoke and hazelnut tart

 

i haven’t managed to get hold of many jersualem artichokes this year but when i finally did, i wanted to try something different (although my usual first choice of jerusalem artichoke risotto is never not going to be delicious). thankfully i remembered a recipe for a jerusalem artichoke, hazelnut and goat's cheese tart, not least because hazelnuts are my favourite nuts and i rarely get to use them in savoury dishes.

the tart is quick and easy to pull together. my top tip would be to make sure that the jerusalem artichokes are properly cooked through when you boil them, as they don’t cook much more in the oven (a few of my thicker slices were a bit al dente).

i used a different cheese to that in the recipe – smoked ricotta, which was new to me. this is a semi-hard cheese and as you’ll see in the picture, the grated pieces didn’t melt much. they added a lovely smokiness to the tart though and i’d happily use it again for this dish, although i think i’d also like to try mixing it with something a bit more melty to get the extra texture contrast.  

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crab with avocado, sesame wafers and grapefruit dressing

 

our starter last weekend was this crab and avocado stack with sesame wafers and a grapefruit dressing. it’s based on a recipe from shane osborn’s starters, a lovely little book which provides recipes for all sorts of starters, most of which can be adapted and turned into main courses.

when i was looking for a starter i looked at a few recipes and kept being drawn to crab and avocado combinations – there was a suzanne goin one which includes beetroot and a gordon ramsay one which has pink grapefruit in it. it was the grapefruit that really caught my eye and so i added it to the crab mix and used it as the basis for the dressing (rather than tomato given they are all still so bland at this time of year).

the resulting dish had  a wonderful freshness and was a lovely light starter. 

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easier than they look

i’m recovering from a crazy busy weekend. we’ve had two sets of friends staying. friday night we went to see caro emerald (fabulous, i’m still singing along four days later) and sat up chatting into the early hours sipping cocktails (old pal and something else i can’t quite remember…) then on saturday, after a late brunch of scrambled eggs and salmon, i put my cook’s apron on and sorted out supper for a second set of friends.

this time the cocktails – apricot mango martinis – kicked the night off. and to keep us going we had these little nibbles to go with them. filo pastry tarts (so easy, just brush a sheet of pastry with melted butter, fold and then cut out circles which you can shape in mini muffin tins while they bake at 190c for 5 minutes) filled with damson chutney, goat or blue cheese, fresh figs, basil leaves and a drizzle of verjuice (i’ve run out of my lovely posh and expensive old balsamic vinegar, otherwise i’d have used that).

i am smitten with these little pastry cases – so quick and easy, they look elegant and create bite size morsels that can easily be eaten without to much mess or fuss. i had pastry leftover and actually made another batch on sunday evening for david and i to snack on while we watched tv – some had roast beef, horseradish and fig and the others had a mix of dressed crab fillings. which, given they were made to use up leftovers, probably gives you a clue about what recipes will follow over the next few days…