Sleepy-house-guest brunch – a very Savoury Bread Pudding

It was going to be Uncle Mark’s simple savoury bread pudding, for a late breakfast/brunch.

But it so happened my “house-guest” was having a well-deserved lie-in …

Shakshuka

Another of those “this not a recipe” recipes.

I met shakshuka first in Cairo and loved the simplicity – just a good tomato sauce, with eggs.

Beyond that, nations, regions, and indeed families have made it their own. Some folks don’t add the onions, or the garlic, or even both. For the spices and/or herbs, the rule is simple – whatever works, as long as the tomato “rules the pan”. Poach the eggs, or (as in Yemen) scramble them.

So what makes a GOOD shakshuka?

Carrot and Coriander – the original

Another recipe from Sarah Brown’s Vegetarian Cookbook. I’d lost mine, and years of trying to recreate gave me this. I haven’t re-tried it yet, but if her pumpkin soup recipe is anything to go by, hers will be a LOT better!

Pumpkin Soup – the original

I’d lost my copy of Sarah Brown’s “Vegetarian Cookbook”, and so her recipe for Pumpkin Soup. My version, recreated from memory, doesn’t match hers!

Her fresh grated ginger and nutmeg add a zing in the mouth that mine … lacks.

Cheese and Onion Pasty

I missed Greggs’ Cheese and Onion Pasties during lockdown. Here’s my version. No, not an exact replicas … but it satisfied an “itch”, and was good eating!

A sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry (375g) will make 4 good-sized pasties – or 6 smaller ones. But, honestly, who wants a daintier pasty?

H’s Gluten-free Dough-ball Wreath with Camembert

This worked well – good eating for all of us, wheat-eaters as well.

It’s not a “pale imitation” of a bread-based wreath; it’s different – more like a scone.

H’s Christmas beef marinade (for roughly 3 kg of beef)

Stunning!

Like all the best recipes, she tasted frequently and tweaked – adding a bit of this or a bit of that. The flavour it’s complex – you’ll get layers of taste, one after the other; first the Yemeni spice, then the cumin, then the chilli, and last the orange. Fascinating.

Wild Garlic Oil

Nothing quite like it. Adds a garlic note to any number of dishes. Just find your spot, and pick bags of it.

Forage for the young leaves in early-mid-March. By May or June, the plant will be in flower – not so good for making garlic oil, but a lovely addition to salads.

Kippers and Baked Eggs

One of life’s sillier problems – I baked gorgeously fat and juicy undyed kippers the other day, with just a wee bit of butter, for a family breakfast. And there was one left over.

Next morning, I opened the fridge … and it was glaring at me with a baleful eye. “Come on, fat-arse, you baked me … now you bloody well better eat me!” Eeeek!

Quick and Simple Smoked Cod and Cannellini Beans

Fifteen minutes. Almost one pot. Think kedgeree but with beans.

I used a piece of cod loin, which I found in the freezer; very good eating, because the loin is so succulently thick. But smoked cod fillet or haddock would work as well.