Mashed potato topped pies are a popular part of British cooking. They are almost always made with leftovers from the ‘Sunday Joint’ which is a strange term referring to a roast beast of some sort served at the main meal on Sunday. I would call it a Sunday Roast, but, as I’m American, I don’t know any better.
I do … Continue reading.....
A few weeks ago I posted about the beautiful, and delicious Pastilla Marinara that we had for our last night together in Tangier.
I had a bit of lamb that needed using so I decided to try my hand at a scaled-down version.
The Pastilla that was served to us at the riad was perfect and perfectly beautiful.
Mine was, … Continue reading.....
My mother loved to bake. She particularly loved to bake pies.
I remember her glancing at the clock on a Sunday morning, seeing that she had a spare 15 minutes and saying – great, I have enough time to bake a pie!
She did not, however, like to teach.
I never learned how to make pie crust, aka shortcrust pastry.… Continue reading.....
This is what one has for dinner when the intention is to have grilled chicken breasts and a salad but the temperature plunges, the wind comes up and it starts pouring rain.
The furnace / boiler had been turned off and both the fireplace and wood stove cleaned, so we had no heat.
It was only logical to turn the … Continue reading.....
While everything and anything can be made with bacon in the U.S., it’s not a household staple here.
I can buy allumettes (matchsticks) or lardons (just translates as bacon, but it’s in pieces slightly bigger than the matchsticks) either natural or smoked. All of these are fried and added to salads, quiches or other dishes as flavoring. They come in … Continue reading.....
Normally I try to restrain myself and am able to avoid the ‘if some is good, more must be better’ mindset that seems to be the standard where eating and cooking are concerned.
I failed with this quiche.
Perhaps I was just so happy to be in the kitchen with something other than butternut squash or pumpkin.
Maybe it was … Continue reading.....
I have made a few phyllo pies in the past but one could say that I did them ‘free form’…. not really paying attention to any traditions.
This time I decided to do it the proper way.
Probably the phyllo pie that is the most famous to the most people is Spanakopita, or Greek Spinach Pie, so that is where … Continue reading.....
I have mentioned in the past that buying pastry of all sorts is very cheap and easy here. It’s never frozen and there is a lot of variety
I use puff pastry often for little tarts and pizzas, and phyllo dough for samosas, nems and spring rolls. You can see them all under Tarts, Spring Rolls, etc.
The problem with … Continue reading.....
