One of our grandsons, Charlie, has developed an obsession with cars.  Where this comes from I have no idea as none of his family have very much interest in cars other than simply as vehicles to get from A to B. 

The light and joy in his eyes when he speaks of cars, watches cars, plays with toy cars or even sits in our parked car pretending to drive is so bright.  You can see from the photograph her,e where he captured whizzing round and round on a playground car in a local park, just what I mean.

His obsession started very early as you can see from an earlier blogpost here ( http://funfamilyfoodandfriends.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-real-santa/ ):

 ”Kane immediately sat beside Santa for his picture, myself and my husband each with our cameras at the ready ~ himself holding Charlie at the same time.  We thought we’d try to get Charlie to sit up too.  No efforts were needed ~ once his tiny feet hit the ground (his papa had been carrying him, as usual) he dashed like lightening, shoving his older brother out of the way and straight up on to Santa’s knee.  We adults gazed at each other in amazement.  Until we saw what had so attracted him ~ a steering wheel.  We hadn’t noticed Santa was actually sitting in a sleigh being too busy worrying about getting them both in the picture with Santa.  But the beady eyed child with a passion for cars and driving spotted it.  Poor Santa thought he was just desperate to sit on his knee, but we the grandparents and great grandparent knew better.  He grabbed the wheel, totally ignoring Santa, and proceeded to ‘drive’ the sleigh!  At least we got out photos.”

Now at three years of age one of the first things he asks people is the colour and make of car they have.  The same happens if he hears us discussing anyone “what colour and make of car does he/she have?”  The information he gathers goes into the tiny computer that is his brain and remains there.  He can now rhyme of the colour and make of many family and friends’ cars.  I on the other hand know our car is black but would be pushed to tell you the make and model! 

How does such a young child remember all this detail?  He, with one of his brothers, stay down with us one night a week and one of his joys the following morning is seeing his papa (my husband) off to work saying “don’t forget the beep-beep!”, which means papa must remember to toot the horn not once, but twice as he drives off.  Once papa has done the beep-beep and disappeared from view we must then stand out on the terrace above the main road and check out all the cars passing the house.

This consists of Charlie spotting a car approaching and calling out “Mercedes!” or “Ford!” or “Toyota!” etc.  Last week I thought I’d test how good he was and we agreed on a competition to see who could get the make of an approaching car first.  Secretly I thought that I’d go easy on him and let him win.  Let him win?!!  Well that idea went down the pipe within seconds.  The first car to appear turned out to be a Merc.  Charlie told me this before I could even see the distinctive logo myself ~ and I have excellent sight but clearly not as good as my beady eyed little car obsessed grandson.  I am embarrassed to say he beat me on nearly ever car and I soon gave up on that game, sore loser that I am!

Ok.  Next idea: carrot soup.  I love making and eating soup.  It is so simple and yet so satisfying, and indeed healthy.  I was thinking of making Carrot and Corriander soup but although I do love corriander in salads and in stir-frys, I am not overly fond of it used in soup.  I have a few oranges going spare here so I decided on the Carrot and Orange option.  This soup is not only healthy but extremely low in calories and fats and by cooking carrots with a little oil, the beta-carotene level is increased by a massive 40%. 

So this soup is low in calories and fats, packed with minerals and vitamins and anti oxidants, inexpensive to make and super delicious.  What’s not to love?  Try it!

Silky Smooth Carrot and Orange Soup

CARROT AND ORANGE SOUP

YOU WILL NEED

- 1 large saucepan with lid

- 1 chopping board and sharp knife

- 1 vegetable peeler

- Juice squeezer

- Wooden spoon to stir

- Hand held blender or jug blender

INGREDIENTS

- 10 or 12 medium to large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

- 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped

- little olive oil or sunflower oil

- salt and ground black pepper to taste

- optional extra: fresh cream

- Juice of 2 oranges (you will only add perhaps the juice of one, it depends on how you like it)

METHOD

1.  Heat the pan and then add a dash of oil

2.  Add the chopped carrots and onion

3.  Place lid on pan and cook gently on a very low heat to allow maximum flavour to be brought out of the carrots and onions, about an hour.  Take great care not to brown or burn the ingredients.  Having the lid sealed on it should allow a little moisture to build up to help cook through the carrots and onions.

Chopped Carrots and Onions

4.  Add a litre and a half/3 pints of boiling water and replace the lid.

5.  Simmer gently until the carrots are completely tender.

6.  Remove from the heat, add a pinch of salt and a grind or two of black pepper to taste and allow to cool a little.

7.  Blend thoroughly making sure there are no lumps of carrot or onion left.

8.  Add the juice of one orange, taste.  Add more if desired.

9.  To make it richer you can add some cream but it is not necessary.

NOTE: If the idea of Carrot and Orange soup doesn’t appeal, just substitute the orange juice with two handfuls of finely chopped fresh corriander.  Add the corriander at the same time as indicted above for the orange juice.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

 First I deseeded and chopped the peppers into big chunks and removed the core from the tomatoes ready for roasting.  Added to this for extra flavour I peeled and chopped carrots and onions.  Initially I was only going to roast the peppers and tomatoes and cook the onions and carrots in water but then I thought of how sweet carrots and indeed onions too taste when roasted and decided to add all the vegetables to the roasting pan with a sprinkle of olive oil.  The result was a very simple, rich, low calorie, and very, very high in vitamins super soup.

All chopped up and ready to roast!

INGREDIENTS

4 or 5 carrots peeled and cut into chunks

2 onions, peeled and cut into chunks

4 to 6 large red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks

6 large tomatoes, cores removed and cut in half

Dash of olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt (if using)

1 teaspoon of sugar

Optional Extras:

You could also chop a small chilli pepper and add to the roasting tray to give the soup an extra zing.  Or, maybe peel a few cloves of garlic and roast with the other veg/fruits.

UTENSILS

Large baking tray (about 2″ deep).  A casserole dish would also do

Wooden spoon

Saucepan and lid

Second saucepan or large bowl

Sieve

Hand blender or blender

METHOD

1.  Preheat the oven to around 150 c.

2.  Place chopped vegetables/fruit on tray

3.  Sprinkle with olive oil

4.  Cook in oven for approximately 30 minutes taking care not to burn the veg/fruit

5.  Put the roasted vegetables/fruit into a saucepan, add about a pint and a half of boiling water

6.  Add the teaspoon of sugar

7.  Place lid on pan and simmer for 30 minutes

8.  Allow to cool a little and then blend either in a blender or with a hand blender

9.  Add salt and pepper to taste

10.  Place sieve over a large bowl or second saucepan and press the soup through the sieve

Roasted Peppers, Onions, Tomatoes, and Carrots

And that’s it, a very simple but ultra tasty soup.

What I loved this morning was the younger grandson, who has never really bothered too much with me much as his favourites are my mother ‘Nana’ and my husband, his much loved ‘Papa’.  But this morning, out of the blue, he came rushing to me, tiny arms outstretched to give me a lovely warm hug.  What a start to the day.

So my job this morning, as every morning the boys are here, is to help the eldest get ready for school.  This involves ‘toast ‘n’ toons’.  Toast to eat whilst watching Spong Bob, trying to dress at the same time, and going over his spellings for his spelling test to refresh his memory since doing them last night.  Who says boys can’t multi-task?  His toast must always be cut into triangles with the crusts off.  This is not him being fussy, I did it for him when he was tiny and it has continued now he is a little school boy.  It reminds me of another routine I developed with our youngest son years ago (and before we were so ecologically aware), heating his uniform in the dryer before he put it on while he was a little junior school boy.  My husband would roll his eyes and mutter about electricity bills, but that little boy, now grown, remembers those times with fondness.

‘Papa’, on dropping eldest g.child off at school a while back was walking up the corridor to his classroom when they met his teacher.  The teacher said ‘say bye bye to daddy’.  Eldest grandchild: ‘He’s not my da, he’s my PA!’.  You can just imagine the thought process in his little hear: silly teacher, imagine thinking my grandfather was my father.  There are many benefits to being a young (ish) grandparent.

Routines.  Children love routine.  And the routine here on the g.sons morning is that ‘Papa’ leaves, taking school going g.son to school.  I and the toddler g.son go outside to wave lots of bye byes to them.  Toddler calling ‘Come home soon Papa!’.  Then after they have gone we have to stand for a while watching traffic go by: white car!  red car!  black car!  taxi! (I kid you not, this 2 year old knows what taxis are!).

Dry Bread and Water

Then back into the house and breakfast for the toddler.  He has a bottle earlier in the morning and prior to getting up, snuggled up with his darling Nana.  But immediately after his big brother leaves for school it is breakfast time proper.  Do you know what he eats for breakfast?  A slice of brown bread, no butter, and a glass of water.  He has the choice of fruit, yoghurts, eggs, cereal, you name it but he wants dry bread an water.  My mother commented ‘you know if someone came in and saw him eating dry bread and water, they’d be shocked at our feeding him that’.  And I suppose they would.  But the way I figure it, if it is dry bread and water he wants then why not?  He eats ‘proper’ food later in the day, including his yoghurt at 10.30 am (what did I tell you about routine?) and he eats his vegetables and loves strawberries and grapes, so it’s not like he is suffering because of his  austere choice of breakfast.  Let them eat what they want whilst guiding with a gentle and invisible (to them) hand and they will thrive and have a healthy attitude to food. 

And maybe even reward you now and again with a warm hug.

FINE DINING

Some times it is the simple things in life that bring most joy.  My husband has for many years bought bags of nuts to feed the birds at this time of year when the ground is solid with frost and snow and their ability to find food is limited.  We both love seeing the little birds flying in and attaching themselves to the nets to feed.  Until this year these were all placed at the front of our house but this year I had the idea to put one at one of the kitchen windows as we spend much more time in the kitchen at the back of the house than we do in the rooms to the front.  

A BIRD IN THE BUSH

The new location of the nuts has proven a great success.  In the few days since the large length of small bags of nuts have been right up at our window I have enoyed seeing many little birds from very close range.  If you stay fairly still the birds don’t notice you and dine to their hearts (or tummies) content.  It’s great too watching them sitting on the bare hedges getting read to fly to the nuts and watching their caution before launching off.  As an added bonus I have been able to get photos of the little birds too.  Now if only I could keep the window steam free!

CONSIDERING LUNCH

So far I have seen blue tits, coal tits, and bull finches eating from the bags.  I noticed other birds who are unable to attach to the nets around too so I put some oats onto the window ledge and now our little ‘net’ birds are joined by a blackbird and a thrush at our birdy dining room.  And in the bushes behind, two little robins spend their time asserting their authority, flying back and forth and making a great fuss.  Which is proving counter productive to their cause as the fuss seems to be attracting even more little net feeding birds.

As an aside here, I usually make dish of food for the non-net feeding birds.  This is very simple and the food can be placed on the window ledge without making a mess on the ground beneath as the oats/breadcrumbs do.  You simply put a half pound of beef fat (Cookeen or some such) into a pan, heat through to melt and allow to cool a little.  Add a handfull of slightly crushed salt free nuts like peanuts (groudnuts), some sultanas or raisins, some finely chopped apple and mix through.  Put the mix into a fairly flat bowl or soup plate and allow to set.  Once set, warm the bowl a little to loosen the ‘cake’ and then place the ‘cake’ on the window ledge ~ the birds love it.

On the subject of birds, for the first time ever I saw a hawk just outside our window too.  This happened prior to the nets being put up and I had noticed a lot of movement outside and much noise but thought it was just the magpies fighting as they are wont to do on a regular basis.  However, glancing up from my computer at the table I was thrilled to see that the fuss was not caused by magpies but rather a fabulous hawk.  He sat on the wall for a minute or so, not long enough to get a photo but long enough for me to enjoy seeing him.  It was just that one time and not a sign of him since but it was fantastic to see one so close up.  When I mentioned this to my mother she wasn’t as impressed.  She said that when they were children and my granny had lots of hens on their farm the hawk would swoop in and take the little yellow chicks.  So her dislike of them is understandable.  I still enjoyed seeing him though.

As for the nets, it will be great too when the grandsons are down next to let them see the little birds feeding and trying to encourage an interest in nature and the importance of feeding the birds in winter which I think is important.  Of course that will involve attempting to make them stay still for a few minutes, not an easy task with very active children who find it impossible to stay still for more than a few seconds.

RELAXING AFTER LUNCH

I have enjoyed all this bird watching so much that I have found myself (almost) seriously considering buying a ‘hide’ and becoming an actual tweeter as opposed to a virtual one.  But then I remind myself that it would be darned cold not to mention uncomfortable, and so perhaps I will just restrict myself to enjoy watching through my window from the warmth of my kitchen and tweet away as before.

Santa Babe

Until next Christmas.

Oh deep joy.

First we have the rush for Christmas trees.  I really don’t know why they don’t start selling them in October or better  around the time some shops start to push Christmas (somewhere around the end of  July) to ensure no-one is left with the twiggy naked affairs often left within the first hours of their going on sale.  And another thing, why do many whilst buying these trees forget their living room ceiling is just over seven feet high and not ten or twelve feet high?  Surely no-one actually plans to have a Christmas tree with a chunk lobbed off the top to accommodate the fairy or star?  Or worse, a tree to the ceiling and then bent over at 45 degree angle for the fairy or star.

Of course we are not happy with just chucking a few lights, tinsel and a some baubles on the tree.  Oh no, no, no.  We need flashing lights and a ton of other ridiculous bits and pieces to make sure each and every branch is suitably bulging and bedecked.  Little foil wrapped chocolates anyone?

Then we are expected to plaster our previouslyperfectly pleasant rooms with all manner of tat.  Deck the halls?  If only people would stick to just the halls.  But at least despite how many rooms one choses to bedeck, they are inside the the house where only you and your nearest and dearest get to ‘enjoy’ your efforts.

Sadly some don’t stop at decorating the inside and a certain madness comes over them which tells them that they should go all ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ and clatter the outside with lights and various other items of what is perceived to be Christmas related.  Like plastic reindeers with flashing red noses.  It’s at times like this you really have to feel for the national grid.  One caveat I must add here is good on the people who do it for charity and have a little box in their garden to take donations from viewers of their efforts, funds which will later be passed to some charity.

Next comes the Christmas card list.  Out to purchase huge amounts of overpriced cards and very expensive stamps to send cards to people you see at least once a week in many cases.  What is that about?  Of course then we must watch for the postman each day ticking off reciprocal cards.  Huge offence can be caused if a card is not received in return.  Oh, and don’t forget we need to cover every possible surface with cards so that visitors will know just how very popular we are (even if it means putting up old cards from earlier years).  Or worse, draping lengths of strings with cards attached to them with tiny pegs just for that purpose.  Imagine, pegs for cards?!

Once the house is Christmas ready and the cards are sent we must shop.  People queueing for miles waiting to get into towns to queue all over again for a parking space and then make their way to shops where they will get pushed and shoved around packed shops to spend, spend, spend buying gifts that many can ill afford to be given as Christmas presents to people who really do not want another pair of socks or the like.  And then to queue up again to pay for all this unwanted tat.  On the news yesterday I heard that in the UK alone STG£70 million has been spent on unwanted gifts.  Yes, SEVENTY MILLION POUNDS.  That is outrageous.  And in the middle of a recession too.  What recession?  I hesitate to venture into writing what that seventy million could have been better spent on helping others.  But this is a rant about Christmas so I won’t digress into much more complicated areas close to my heart.  On with the rant.

And then the queues form again getting away from the town centres to get home, laden with all sorts of gifts to that won’t be appreciated and food, a lot of which will be binned untouched.  Of course it’s not over.  Gifts.Must.Be.Wrapped.  So we must find a place to wrap amid the packed work tops and tables.  And the wrapping begins at the hands of people who haven’t a notion how to wrap a vase and just when we have the paper around the gift we remember something we forgot.  Sticky tape.  A whole house search is then on to find sticky tape.  Or failing that electricians tape.  But you must be organised and know which (badly) wrapped gift is for whom to avoid grandma getting  the football dvd that was meant for uncle Joe and uncle Joe getting  the designer make up bag that was intended for your sister.  And when all that is done …

Into the kitchen where through rivers of sweat the sacrificial turkey will be stuffed and squeezed into an oven.  And the obligatory sprouts and parsnips will be cooked and more than likely not eaten.  We must have sprouts and parsnip at Christmas dinner but sadly for the cook the rule doesn’t extend to any obligation to actually eat them.

And then the guests arrive.  A few welcoming drinks and tinkling laughter and bonding where much cooing and oohing and ahing is exchanged over the little darlings and what they got from Santa and it’s smiles all around as the little darlings beat seven bells out of each other each wanting the others’ Santa gifts.  But with the adults it’s smiles all around and the show goes on.  That is until old slights start to surface and worm their way into the psyche of slightly inebriated brains.  The tinkling laughter becomes forced and super falsely jolly all the while remembered hurt feelings simmer under the surface.  Smiles become more strained and the host starts to pick up on that to join the worries about the turkey now probably burning in the oven.

Dinner is served and way too much is eaten, all the while carefully avoiding the obligatory sprouts and parsnips.  All resulting in mountains of dishes to washed, pans to be scrubbed, and glasses washed, polished and put away until next year.    More resentment simmering gently in the kitchen from the one or two who end up with the work whilst the others settle themselves on sofas infront of way too hot fires to sleep off the feast or nod of with boredom at what is on the screen.  Christmas tv of course must consist of  re-runs films that they roll out year in year out, films that my not even have been enjoyed when they were new thirty years earlier.  

The 26th of December dawns, unwanted gifts lie all around, hangovers and resentments rule.  The house is pretty much trashed, there are mountains of rubbish to be disposed off and all the recycling units are shut for the holidays.  But worry not.  It’s time to queue again.  The Christmas sales have begun.  The tat we queued to buy two days before is now reduced to half price.  Imagine, we could have bought twice the tat had we waited two days.

Ah, Christmas.  What could beat it.  For bah humbugs like me I’m glad it’s over. 

And I ask those who purport to so love the season of good will ~ if it is so bloody brilliant why oh why do I hear all around me 

‘Thank goodness THAT is over for another year’.?

OUR LITTLE NOCTURNAL ROBIN

I love seeing little robins and love them being around the house.  I love their cheeky nature and the way the interact with humans so much more than most other wild birds.  They will even come indoors though many don’t like birds coming inside because of superstitions. 

In the cafe of nearby Gleveagh Castle in Donegal we saw the cutest little robin who came into the cafe at will during our time there.  The owner was telling me he did this every day, flying in and out of the building when the door was opened by incoming and departing customers, hoping to pick up crumbs dropped by customers.  He would hop around the floor and then fly up and sit on the beams above then swoop down again each time his sharp little eyes spotted food.  However he was getting rather too cheeky apparently, trying to actually get food from the service counter.

Like many others I’m sure I did not know they come out at night.  I know that they are one of the birds that initiate the dawn chorus, but I’ve never seen one out in the dark of night.  Last night, very late, after we had watched a film I did my usual trip outside to take some fresh air and look around.  I was gazing up at the crystal clear starry sky and enjoying the silence around me when I heard a rustling in the bushes.  I looked over and saw a robin hopping from branch to branch.  I was surpised of course but delighted too.

There was no-one around so I felt free to say hello to him and he repayed me with coming ever nearer and swooping around in front of me, eventually landing on one of the gateposts.  Of course in the middle of it all I had to dash inside, grab my camera and get a photo of him.

My husband eventually came out to see what I was doing and I told him about the robin.  He too had never heard of robins being around at night.  We stood for a while enjoying “our” little robin showing off his flying and landing skills infront of us.  Later my husband went inside and got a handful of oats and placed them on the snow atop the pillar. 

I like to think that “our” little robin knew he’d managed to communicate with us and was repayed with what I’m sure was a very welcome meal on a night when the ground all around was frozen solid.

Think about it, we go out in December dining, partying, meeting friends in bars, partying at the homes of friends, and as sure as eggs is eggs, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ will play at the very least twice during the night.

The song was written by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof about the 1984/85 famine in Ehtiopia about adults and children who were literally dying of hunger.  Those of us who remember Band Aid remember everyone far and wide dipping into their pockets and throwing money into the kitty that was Band Aid prompted by Mr. Geldoff’s screaming across our tv screens give, give, give, and enforced by the constant streaming on our tv screens showing the suffering of these people and more pertinently the starving babies and children to make us feel so guilty we would give even more. 

I remember being out and about at the time and people being totally daft about the giving, throwing ridiculous amounts into it, money many could ill afford but with the night that was in it and the fact that most of us had a few jars as they say money was no object. Add to those of us out and about, the people watching from their homes felt for the suffering of the children and people on screen and Band Aid raisee an awful lot of money.

Now back to reality.  Today in the world sadly there are still far too many dying simply because they haven’t enough food.

And yet in restaurants across Europe and other ‘first world’ countries at this time of year we have people eating their fill, and sometimes way more than their fill,  after no doubt having earlier had breakfast, lunch and even snacks before the four, five or more course meal being enjoyed along with expensive drinks and wine.  And then on the sound system inevitable comes ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’. 

The song is iconic.  Most of us know most if not all of the words and sing along.  And in restaurants, bars, pubs, house parties and wherever people gather, over indulgence is being enjoyed, nay celebrated and everyone sings along almost trance like.  How on earth can we stuff  our faces and bellys to the point of bursting whilst singing ‘there’s a world outside your window and it’s a world of dread and fear, where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears‘.

It truly disturbs me.

Maybe that other song that is always played at this time of year, ’Drive’ by The Cars, might offer a salutary warning about the way we live.

Who’s gonna tell you when
It’s too late
Who’s gonna tell you things
Aren’t so great … You can’t go on, thinking nothings wrong.

But then at this festive time, we sing along with that too as we eat, drink and be merry.

THE WARM GLOW OF GIVING

We have three beautiful grandsons and at Christmas time this usually means we’d be out buying Christmas presents for them.  However, listening to the bad news of the recession day in day out on tv and radio and hearing how very bad it will be this year for many, we came up with another idea for this year.

The two youngest at only two and 6 months obviously have very little idea yet about presents so this is about our eldest grandson, Kane, who will be seven in a few days.  This year, like every other year he will get both birthday presents a few days before Christmas and then more presents on Christmas day.  He gets gifts not only from Santa but also from his parents and his large extended family.  No fault of his or the people giving him gifts of course, but still way too much.

So my husband and I have decided he is old enough now to explain to him that not every little boy or girl is lucky enough to have so many people who will bring gifts.  From time to time I do actually tell him this but now we want him to understand how very lucky he actually is and to feel for those children who are not so.  We want him to understand how he could so very easily do something very special to make other children somewhere in Ireland benefit from our gift to him and his brothers. 

He will be given an allowance of around €90 which is €30 per grandchild and we will take him to a toy shop where he will pick gifts for other little boys and girls (more probably boys truth be told) from himself and his two brothers.  The gifts will then be taken to a local charity where he can hand over the gifts.  We will of course make much of what he has done on the trip to the charity shop, telling him how kind he is to give like this and I hope that sets at seed for the future when he will think of others as a matter of course.  Yes, he is young but should we not teach our children (and grandchildren) the good feeling we get when we give rather than take? 

I’m not sure how Kane will react to our idea, but I sincerely hope he will want to do it and then feel the warm and special glow that giving can bring, something that can surely only stand him in good stead for his future life.  And into the future, we now think we will maybe make this a tradition for future years when the younger grandchildren too are of an age to understand the moral and personal benefits of giving.

This is our gift to our grandchildren.

So, me being me, I’m not going to start with a basic quiche I want to make something super tasty using my idea for filling.  My first attempt at quiche will be:

Goats Cheese, Slow Roasted Tomato and Red Onion Quiche

Here’s a photo of the end result and there follows how I got there.

MY FIRST QUICHE ~ which I served with salad

UTENSILS

Quiche dish (with removable bottom if possible ~ it will make it easier to cut into later)

Frying pan

Wooden spoon

Baking tray

Bowl (for mixing eggs and cream)

Bowl (to mix pastry ingredients)

Rolling pin

Balloon whisk

Smaller bowl with 2 sheets of kitchen paper lining it

Large milk jug or measuring jug

Greaseproof paper

Scissors

500 gram bag of dried pulses or rice

Weighing scales

INGREDIENTS FOR PASTRY

9zo/250 g plain flour (plus a little extra for wooden spoon and sprinkling on the worktop for rolling)

125g butter (plus a little extra to grease the flan tray)

1 egg

Salt

3 tablespoons of chilled water

(Don’t forget, if you are feeling lazy it is not a sin to use shop bought pastry).

INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING

3 and a half ounces/100 grams of goats cheese

2 medium sized red onions

4 tomatoes

Olive oil

Ground black pepper

White pepper

Salt

METHOD ~ PASTRY

1.  Switch on oven to 200 c/400 f/gas mark 6

2.  Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into bowl.

3.  Cut the butter into small chunks and add to the flour.  Using your fingers rub the butter through until you have a consistency like breadcrumbs.

4.  Beat the egg and add to pastry mix together with 3 tablespoons of chilled water.

5.  Bind ingredients together using a dinner knife and then press together and roll the pastry into a ball. You can wrap in clingfilm and refridgerate for a few hours at this point if you so wish.

6.  Rub a little butter around the flan tin and add a sprinkle of flour.

8.  Sprinkle a little flour onto worktop and place chilled pastry on it.  Rub some flour onto rolling pin and roll pastry to a depth of around a quarter of an inch.

9.  Very carefully lift rolled pastry using the rolling pin to assist onto flan tray and press into tray leaving a little pastry overlapping the lip of the tray to allow for shrinkage when cooking.  I just leave an inch or and simply work around the case with a pair of scissors to neaten it up.  Prick all over with a fork to allow any air to escape during cooking.

10.  Put some greaseproof paper over pastry and fill with uncooked rice or pulses (to hold the paper down) and place in oven for 12 minutes.  (This is called ‘blind baking’).  After 12 minutes, remove the flan from the oven and take the greasproof and dried pulses off it.  Put the case back into the oven for a further 2 minutes.

BLIND BAKING

11.  Remove from the oven, leaving in flan tray and set aside to cool.

Note: I mix the pastry myself as I quite enjoy doing it (plus I hate having loads of washing up!) but you can use a food processor if you prefer.

MAKING GREASEPROOF PAPER CIRCLE

Know How: To make the greaseproof paper fit on top of the pastry before going into the oven, simply pull out enough greaseproof paper from the roll to cover the entire flan.  Fold paper in half and then half again, put the triangle of paper on top of the flan with the point being in the centre of the flan.  Snip where the edge of the flan is on the paper then cut the paper in a slight curve at that point.  Open out the paper and you have a perfect fit for the flan.  Fit on top of the flan pressing gently into the sides and put in 18 oz/500 grams of dried pulses or rice.  Once the pastry is cooked you can pop the cooled pulses or rice into a jar for using again.

METHOD ~ FILLING

1.  Put oven to 150c/300 f/gas mark 2

2.  Peel and slice the onions and then sautee them gently in a little olive oil in your frying pan until just soft.  Move them around from time to time with your wooden spoon to make sure non stick.

SAUTEED RED ONIONS

3.  Slice tomatoes into 4 chunky slices and place on baking tray.  Grind over some black pepper and a pinch of salt and sprinkle with a little olive oil.  Place in oven and slow roast for around 30 minutes.  Keep an eye on them so that they do not dry out or burn.

SLOW ROASTED TOMATOES

4.  Remove tomatoes from the oven and set aside to cool.  Switch the oven up to 200 c/400 f/gas mark 6.

5.  Remove sauteed onions from the pan and into a bowl into which you have placed a couple of sheets of kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil, set aside and to allow to cool. 

6.  Slice the goats cheese into rings.

7.  Beat the eggs, cream, a pinch of salt and a pinch of white pepper together.  Pour the mix into a large milk jug or measuring jug to make pouring the mix over the ingredients easier and not dislodge the ingredients in the flan case.

8.  Arrange the ingredients in the cooked flan case, placing the onion on the bottom, the sliced tomatoes next and topped with the sliced goats cheese. 

9.  Gently and carefully pour the eggs and cream mix over the ingredients.  To save any spillage you can place the flan into the oven just prior to adding the eggs and cream mix and then carefully pour the mix in.

10.  Bake for around 30 minutes or until just golden.

MY FIRST QUICHE!

OPTIONAL FILLINGS

Use the pastry mix for the flan case as above.  The egg and cream mix remains the same too.

CHEESE AND ONION ~ Peel and slice one large onion and sautee until tender.  Do not allow to brown.  When cool, place in cooked flan case, add the egg and cream mix and sprinkle 4oz/114 grams of grated cheese over the top and bake as above.

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM ~ Wipe and slice about 10 chestnut mushrooms.  Rapidly fry until brown in a little olive oil, remove from pan and place in a dish with 2 slices of kitchen paper to drain excess oil and liquid).  Divide two chicken breasts in half lengthways and then slice into bite sized slices.  Sautee the chicken until just cooked ~ do not over cook.  Arrange the chicken in the flan case and top with the mushrooms and then the egg and cream mix and bake as above.  If you like you could sprinkle some grated parmesan over the top prior to cooking.

MIXED PEPPERS, COURGETTE AND SWEETCORN ~ De-seed and slice one of each green, red and yellow pepper and sautee in a little olive oil until soft.  Slice courgette into rings and sautee on each side until golden brown.  Drain and rinse a small can of sweetcorn.  Arrange the peppers on the base of the flan, add the courgette slices, and sprinkle the sweetcorn over the top (you can use as little or as much of the sweetcorn as you think looks best).  Fill with egg and cream mix and bake as above.

QUICHE LORRAINE ~ Cut (8oz/228 grams) of bacon into small pieces and fry until brown.  Place bacon in the flan case, add the egg and cream mix and bake as above.  If you wish you can grate some cheddar cheese over the top prior to cooking.