Wot's This Then ?

Is it a quiche ? Is it a sorta Spanish omelette ? A frittata  ?

Call it what ye will. I needed to use up eggs !
We're obviously not keeping up with our chickens. They are laying more eggs than we are prepared to eat on a daily basis. While I try to come up with a recipe that uses a hundred eggs in one go, they keep on accumulating in the pantry.
Sunday was the day I hard boiled fifteen eggs to use in an egg mayonnaise - salad type of thing.
But I also wanted to make something that would do as  dinner. Not too much fuss as I was still in the grips of a flu. With the feeling of a boa constrictor squeezing the bejeesus out of my chest, the only thing I wanted to do was lay down and play dead.
Unfortunately my appetite never dies so I set to work. Cooked everything in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan assisted)
Line a roasting tin with baking paper (my tin is 21 x 36 cm)

First step
Ingredients

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into 0.5 cm disks
• 3 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 0.5 cm disks
• olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Provençale or Italian dried herbs
• 1 tsp smoked paprika

Preparation

• Put the potatoes, oil, herbs and spices onto a baking tray toss around that you have an even coating of oil and spices.
• Put the tray in the preheated oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes.

• Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and set aside.

Second step

Ingredients

• 2 large onions, peeled and sliced in rings
• 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, sliced (in rings or  lengthways)
• olive oil
• 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Provençale or Italian herb mix, 1 tsp smoked paprika

Preparation

• Spread the veg out onto your tray with olive oil and spices

•  In the oven with it ! For 15 minutes

• Set aside

Third step

Ingredients plus of course yer roasted veg

• olive oil
• 200 grs goats cheese, sliced
• 12 eggs
• splash of milk
• salt to taste
• a small bunch of coriander leaves

Preparation

• Take your roasting tin with the baking paper and drizzle with olive oil
• Layer with potatoes, other veg and goats cheese

• Beat the eggs with the salt and milk. Add the chopped coriander leaves and pour over the veg.

• Place it in the hot oven for 30 minutes or until the eggs have set.

• Leave to rest for 10 minutes before lifting the 'whatever-you-gonna-call-it' out with the lining paper.
• Slice and serve however you like.

I obviously made enough to have leftovers the next day.

A great meat free meal it was too. And while the written down recipe seems long, it was ready in no time (except for the hour in the oven)

If you don't like goats cheese, use another cheese.

If you don't like cheese, don't use any.

If you don't like coriander, use parsley or nothing of the sort.

If you don't like eggs, tough luck !

If any of my friends in the area want some free eggs, come and get some. I'm not going to start a delivery service. Capiche ?

Patricia xxx...x

Vegetable Tagine

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into large-ish pieces
• 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped into large-ish pieces
• 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and you know what to do
• 2 cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 3 shavings of lemon zest
• 1/2 chilli, strength to taste, sliced, seeds removed or not
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Ras el hanout spice mix
• 3 cardamom pods, squashed
• 1 tin of peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped up
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• seasoning (salt and pepper to taste)
• a squirt of harissa if you have it and like it hot, baby
• a sprinkle of the omnipresent coriander leaves

Method

• Heat olive oil in a pan, add the first 12 ingredients. I am so sorry that I cook from scratch, scratch, scratch.
• Sautee on a low heat for 5 minutes. 
• Add a splash of water and cover with lid. Don't burn it. Add more water if needed.
• Let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and half a tin of water.
• 15 minutes, covered with lid.
• Add the red pepper and the cinnamon and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Season and add a squirt of harissa if you like.
• Serve with plain couscous and sprinkle with green angel confetti aka coriander leaves.

Thanks for looking in.

Patricia xxx...x

Malaysian Curry Paste - Vegetarian Version

That's what I'll call it for now. But it could be from anywhere in Southeast Asia, I suspect.
We are honored to have a lovely young woman from Malaysia staying here as a volunteer. Her name is Wen and even though she has been traveling a good part of the globe for 5 years or so, I feel it is my duty as a host to make our volunteers at home. So, I 'try' to cook something from their homeland from time to time.
Now, I am not a seasoned cook in Asian cuisine.  Oh, I do make Indian curries and kormas and other Indian inspired dishes. And bami goreng is also in my repertoire. Obviously all given the 'Patricia treatment' depending on the ingredients I have in the pantry and spice drawer.
Trawling the internet for a Malaysian curry I came across many recipes that called for 'a jar of Malaysian curry paste'. Yeah, well, that wasn't on the cards living where we live.  I prefer to cook from scratch anyways.
Off to google Malaysian curry paste recipes, then. I was in luck, if only I had some galangal and lemongrass. I didn't have any shrimp paste either, but that was okay, since Wen is a vegetarian.
Looking a bit further I also found recipes for Laksa paste. this paste contains more ingredients  and would give a slightly intenser, albeit different flavour.

Here is my concoction, made with a gathering of internet info.

Ingredients

• 1 medium size onion, peeled & cut into large pieces
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 1/2 chilli, red or yellow, medium heat - I used red serenade chilli. By all means, use a hotter variety if you so wish. Wen is from Chinese descent and doesn't take to overly spicy food.
• a good chomp of ginger, peeled and sliced
• handful of cashew nuts
• 6 fresh or dried kaffir lime leaves
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 level teaspoon paprika
• 1 level teaspoon turmeric
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons of peanut oil

The ingredients I didn't have were galangal & lemongrass. I just used more ginger to substitute the first. The lemongrass would have given it a whole different dimension and I advice you to add 1 stalk, white only, chopped.

Method
Chuck it all in the food processor and blend till you have smooth paste.
I used half of the paste for a coconut milk based vegetable curry and froze the other half for future use.

Wen asked me for the recipe ! She might be just polite, but I believe her when she says the flavours are authentic. She mainly uses jarred pastes and they are way to spicy for her and certainly for her German boyfriend. It is also difficult to find a vegetarian option without the shrimp paste in it.
I believe her, also because she had the leftovers for lunch. Haha.

There, Wen, this is a recipe for you.

Thanks for reading.
Patricia xxx...x

Cauliflower 'rice' - (45 cal) - 5:2

Cauliflower has been a life saver in my quest to bring down my blood sugar levels.
My low carb diet wouldn't be so 'easy' to maintain if it weren't for the different flavours and textures on my dinner plate. It is also low in calories, which helps
Just to clarify. It is not my own idea. I read about it on the internet and took it from there.

And no, it doesn't taste overly cauliflowery at all.

ingredients
Serves 2 -  45 calories per person

• half a head of cauliflower, +/- 450 grs  (20 cal / 100 grs)
• a splash of water
• seasoning
• herbs, spices of your choosing

preparation

• You'll need a food processor for this with grating attachment.
• Grate the cauliflower and transfer to a microwave dish with lid.
• Add a splash of water and nuke for 5 minutes on highest setting.
• Stir and taste for degree of doneness, if necessary put it back for a couple of minutes.
• When ready, stir in your seasoning, herbs and spices of your liking.
• Put the lid back on and let it rest for 3 minutes to bring all the favours together.

Serve instead of rice or couscous.

Thank you for visiting.
Patricia xxx...x

Ratatouille with Grilled Prawns - (366 cal) - 5:2

When you get this kind of still life from your garden, there is only one dish that springs to mind. Ratatouille !  



Ingredients  231 cal per person
serves 4

• 130 grs onions, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 850 grs courgettes, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
• 370 grs aubergines, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
• 330 grs red peppers, cut into 2.5 cm squares
• 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• thyme
• rosemary
• vegetable stock 250 ml
• red wine vinegar, a dash
• 620 grs tomatoes, red and yellow, roughly chopped
• seasoning
• a pinch of sugar (or do what I did, use Stevia)
• fresh basil, as much as you like

Preparation

• In a pan deep-ish pan, heat a tbsp of olive oil and sautee the onions with the garlic.
• In the meantime use another pan to heat up another drizzle of olive oil. Fry off the courgettes.
• When they are nicely coloured, add them to the onions which are still on the hob on a low heat.
• Next into the pan are the aubergines. Brown on all sides. Add to the onions.
• Repeat for the peppers.
• Now add bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and stock to the vegetables, together with the vinegar.
• Leave to simmer till the veggies are soft but not falling apart (20 minutes or so)
• You then drain the vegetables off the cooking liquid, preserving the liquid, which will go back into the pan on the hob to be reduced untill it tickens. Take off the heat.
• Add the vegetables again with seasoning and stevia. Top with the tomatoes, lid on for 10 minutes.
• Stir in the basil and serve.

Prawn skewers  135 cal pp
serves 1

•  12 frozen tiger (or other) prawns, defrosted and shell removed. 150 grs (shelled)
• a drizzle of olive oil (you should have some left from the ratatouille)
• season with seasalt, curry powder

• Stick the prawns onto wooden skewers - 2 skewers of 6 prawns, each.
• Drizzle with the oil and season
• Put in a preheated griddle pan. Griddle on both sides till they have completely changed colour.
• Don't overcook as they become rubbery.
• Serve with ratatouille

Patricia xxx...x

Celeriac Mash, Quorn Steak and Beetroot Salad - (397 cal) - 5:2

It might not look like a f(e)asty meal to you but it was excellent and easy to prepare, which isn't a bad thing if you've been busy all day.

Quorn steaks were 113 cal/ 100 grs. We had 195 grs, each (yeah, I know !)
Prepare as per instructions on the packet.  There, that was easy, wasn't it ?

Beetroot  37 cal/100grs. 175 grs/each
I used the ones from the garden, but you obviously can buy them vacuum packed, already cooked and peeled.  If you use fresh ones, you will need to wash tem and cook in water on the hob till al dente. Drain and peel - the peel will just slide off.  Slice or chop, as you please.

Celeriac Mash 36 cal/100grs. 250 grs, each
You know the drill. Peel and cut into small cubes ( 1.5 cm)
Cover with cold water, add a stock cube of your choice (I used Kallo organic vegetable) and cook till tender.
Drain, but keep the cooking liquid, you can drink that at a later stage as a soup. Very tasty.
Now add seasoning (salt, black pepper and nutmeg) and mash to your hearts content. Please, don't add butter. You only add butter if you're not dieting.

"Do I not see dressing on the beetroot ? " I hear you ask.
Indeed. I made a dressing with the following ingredients

• stem ginger, grated 40 grs
• 1 clove of garlic, grated
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped 50 grs
• 1 tsp grainy mustard
• squeeze of 1/2 lemon or the equivalent in white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• seasoning
• a dash of tap water

That is a total of 235 calories, which you naturally only use a tablespoon off. The rest can be stored in a jar in the fridge for a couple of days at least.

The calories in this meal are so 'high' because I decided not to divide up my calorie allowance during the day, but have them all at dinner time.  It gave me the opportunity to also have two nectarines as dessert.

Patricia xxx...x

Stuffed Courgette or Marrow - ( 310 cal) - 5:2

Ingredients
serves 2 - 310 cal/pp

• marrow or courgette, halved lengthways and scooped out (I had 640 grs)
• 1 onion finely chopped (85 grs)
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• red pepper, finely chopped (75 grs)
• soy protein, strips or minced (100 grs)
• mushrooms, finely chopped (200 grs)
• tomatoes, chopped (250 grs)
• atichoke hearts, halved (120 grs)
• 1/2 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
• dried oregano, 1 tsp
• chilli powder or a dash of tabasco
• seasoning, salt an black pepper

Preparation

• preheat oven 200° C, fan asisted
• place the halved courgettes in a suitable oven tray
• sautee the onion in the oil on the hob, with the peppers and oregano
• add the soy protein and garlic, stir for a minute before adding the mushrooms
• when they are near cooked, add the tomatoes and leave to simmer for a couple of minutes
• season with sea salt, black pepper and chilli powder/tabasco
• spoon into/over the courgettes and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, turning down the heat to 160°C after 10 minutes.
• put the artichoke halves on top in the loast 5 minutes or so
• the courgette marrow should be cooked through but al dente and still a bit firm (makes you chew, which isn't a bad thing)
• serve with a sprinkle of spring onion greens and a few slivers of mild (or hot) chillies.

Patricia xxx...x

Tofu Stir Fry (235 cal) - 5:2

Tofu Stir Fry    235 calories pp

Recipe serves 2

Ingredients

• 125 grs firm tofu, cubed into bite size pieces
• 2 tbsp shoyu
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 cm ginger, finely sliced into strips
• chilli pepper, finely sliced - as much as you can handle
• 100 grs red pepper, sliced
• 175 grs leeks, cleaned, washed and sliced in rings at an angle - that's for autenticity
• 180 grs mushrooms, sliced (I had for semi large ones, hence the odd weight)
• 1 tsp sunflower oil (ouch !)

Preparation

• Mix the garlic, grated ginger, chilli and soy sauce.  Marinate the cubed tofu in this for 20 minutes.
• Heat up the whole one teaspoon of oil in yer wok.
• Stir fry the ginger first, before adding the leeks and red pepper.
• In the last minute or two, add the mushrooms.
• Transfer the veg to 2 plates.
• Bring the wok back to heat and stir fry the tofu till coloured slightly.
• Rinse the container from the marinade with a splash of water and add it to the wok.
• Take of the heat and divide the tofu between the two plates.

Enjoy the simple and fresh flavours !

PS I used chopsticks for once, it prevented me somewhat from wolfing it down.


Patricia xxx...x

Tomato Flan

Simple and fresh.

Ingredients  quantities depending on the size of the flan and on how many of them you'll be making. I'd say for 3 eggs, use one tbsp cream cheese and 150ml double cream.  It really doesn't have to be very accurate.

• shortcrust pastry
• eggs
• cream cheese
• cream
• seasoning
• dried basil
• cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• fresh basil leaves to serve

Preparation

• Preheat the oven 200° C - fan oven
• Line a pie dish with baking paper.
• Roll out the shortcrust pastry and line the pie dish, prick with a fork and put in fridge until ready to fill and bake
• Beat the cream cheese and cream smooth and add the beaten eggs.
• Season with salt and pepper, dried basil.
• Pour into the pie dish - don't over fill.
• Arrange the halved tomatoes on top with cut side up.
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes then turn down the oven to 170° C, bake further for about 15 to 20 minutes, till the egg mixture is firm and the pastry cooked.

Thank You Chooks - Egg Salad

I  love prawns very much. Trouble is that Bert does not do prawns. Oh well, a piece of cod for him then. The star here however is the egg salad (or egg mayonnaise)

Seeing our lovely chooks are very productive and egg salad is just the thing to bulk out any plate of food....and the tummy.

Ingredients

• eggs (obviously) 8 or so - quantity depending on how many times you want to eat egg salad in the next couple of days (morning, noon and night)
• mayonnaise - also depending on the quantity of eggs - for 8, about 2 tbsp mayo
• 1tsp Dijon mustard
• 1tbsp tomato ketchup
• cayenne powder - to taste
• 1tbsp capers (I use the ones in brine)
• 1 chunky or 2 tiny spring onions, sliced.
• black pepper, freshly ground

Preparation

• Put the eggs in a cooking pot, so that they sit snuggly next to each other. Cover with water and add a splash of white vinegar.
• Bring to the boil. From that point cook the eggs for another 8 minutes. Drain and run cold water over them.
• Leave to cool and peel.
• In a bowl, bring together the mayo, mustard, ketchup, cayenne and capers.
• Chop up the eggs in a rustic style (ie. not small)
• Fold into the mayo mix with the sliced spring onions, keeping some of the green to garnish.
• Sprinkle wit black pepper.

I bet you weren't looking for an egg salad or egg mayo recipe, but here you have it anyway.

Patricia xxx...x

Shaheen's Beetroot Croquettes

I fell in love with these as soon as I saw them on the Allotment2Kitchen blog. 
Of course I needed to wait till my beets in the garden were ready to harvest.
I did make them, last year in July, lots of them. They freeze well (unfried) and that is what I did with a good few.
Yesterday, I took some out for dinner and served with shaved fennel slaw and salmon.
Beetroot works well with fish, in my opinion, and these are no different.

Last year's, served with a rocket salad and a selection of smoked fish and of course my favourite....capers.Haha.

Next time I will either use a finer grater and/or parboil the beets first.

I suggest you browse  http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.com/ .  You don't have to be a vegetarian to appreciate most of the recipes on there.  Look at me !  I love meat, but I also love Shaheen's recipes. Truly inspirational.

Thanks for visiting.
Patricia xxx...x

Lentil Burgers in a Bun

I do not shy away from the so-called junk food from certain food outlets at all.  Every once in a blue moon we indulge, but it is certainly not a staple in our daily diet.
But if you make them at home there is generally no restriction to add them on a more regular basis.

These vegetarian babies are the bees knees.  Full of natural goodness and the flavour.... well... you'll just have to make these one day.  You'll know what I'm talking about then.

The recipe gives you 12 generous patties. You can freeze them well, provided you spread them on a tray and freeze for 24 hours before wrapping them in a freezer bag. Then it's just a matter of cooking them from frozen as and when you need them.

So here goes...

Ingredients

• 500 grs dried green lentils (I use the small ones,  Puy kind)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• 2.5 cm fresh ginger,grated
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• olive oil or other vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp garam massala
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• Water
• Zest of 1/2 lemon, grated
• bunch of parley an/or coriander, chopped
• 150 grs wholewheat breadcrumbs
• 3 eggs
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation

• Heat some olive oil in a pan and sautee the onions till transluscent.
• Add the garlic, ginger, carrots and sautee for a minute or so.
• In the meantime rince the lentils under cold water.
• Also add them to the pan. Stir for a minute to coat them with the oil
• Pour water over so that it reaches about 2 fingers above the lentils.
• Turn down the heat as soon as it comes to boiling point and leave to simmer gently, with lid on.
• Check the lentils for doneness and top up with a little boiling water if necessary.  They should still be frim but not hard and the water should all be absorbed and evaporated.

• Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly.
• Give it a whizz with a hand held blender, not  completely smooth and with plenty of whole lentils left.

• Stir in the garam massala, cayenne, lemon zest, parsley, coriander and season.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning.
• Stir in the eggs and bread crumbs.
• Leave it to set for half an hour or so in the fridge.
• Wet your hands to prevent the mixture from sticking and shape into 12 burgers.

• Heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan.
• Gently fry the burgers for about 3 minutes on each side and till they are nicely coloured and crisp on the outside.

• Drain on kitchen paper and serve anyway you like

Serving suggestion
Homemade buns - toasted and smeared with mayonnaise, ribbons of iceberg lettuce, sliced onion, sliced tomato, cheese (I used gouda), slice of red pepper and a dollop of chillie chutney.  I also made for this occasion slender looking fries.

Patricia xxx...x

Carrots in a Bechamel Sauce with Parsley

This will never win any culinary prizes, but it is one of these dishes that reminds me of my childhood. 
Why ? Well, my mumma used to make this for us whenever we felt poorly, it was served with rice and it was light enough to digest easily.

So last night I felt really awful and sick. What better way to get my appetite back than this simple dish.

Ingredients

• 50 grs butter (I am sure my mum used sunflower oil instead of butter)
• 50 grs flour
• 300 ml liquid - milk, cream, cooking liquid of the carrots
• parsey - the more the better or as much as you like, chopped
• 6 carrots, peeled and sliced in discs (approx 3 mm tick)
• Seasoning - salt, black pepper and nutmeg

Preparation

• Cook the carrots in boiling salted water for 3 minutes, till al dente. Drain and keep some of the liquid for the sauce if you so wish.
• Please tell me I don't have to write down how to make a white sauce - make a white sauce with the butter, flour and liquid.
• Add parsey, seasoning and the carrots.
• Heat through, et voilà, it's ready.

What did your mother cook for you, when you felt poorly ? That's what I'd like to know.

Patricia xxx...x

Cheese Croquettes

Scuse the photo quality :-/

Would you believe I have never made these before and Belgium is undoubtedly the land of croquettes. Potato, cheese, brown shrimp, ham.

Only once did I make potato croquettes and that was eons ago, but last summer I got very excited about beetroot croquettes that I saw here , I had a go and they were the bees knees. YumYum.

But now I was stuck with loads of cheese - camembert style and goats cheese - from christmas.  Couldn't stand the smell anymore and I didn't feel like eating cheese morning, noon and night, so what better way to use all the cheese than in croquetes.  I made 60 of the little blighters, they freeze well and are gorgeous.

Ingredients (for 15 to 20 croquettes)

• 100 grs butter
• 150 grs flour
• 500 ml milk
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 250 gr cheese (if using Camembert, remove the white skin as it doesn't melt)
• 4 eggs
• extra flour for coating
• breadcrumbs
• Salt, black pepper, nutmeg

Preparation

• Make a thick bechamel sauce with the butter, flour and milk. Stirring all the while.
• Add the mustard
• Separate the eggs, add the yolks to the sauce and let it come to the boil again, stirring. Keep the whites for coating the croquettes afterwards.
• Add the cheese but don't let it come to boiling point anymore. If using hard cheeses, they need to be grated before you add them.  Stir until the cheese has melted into the sauce.
• Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
• Tip the sauce onto a floured tray and spread out eavenly.
• Store away in the fridge for a couple of hours
• Cut the paste into 4x4 cm squares.
• First coat them in flour, then into the beaten egg whites, and lastly cover with breadcrumbs.
• Put them on a clean tray next to each other.
• Another cooling off period will benefit the end result. I did put them straight into the freezer.
• Heat up about a cm of sunflower oil into a deep-ish pan. Or you can use a deep fat fryer - 170°C
• Fry the croquettes in batches (depending on how many you have)until they are golden brown on both sides (you might have to turn them over halfway through the cooking proces, obviously)
• When they are done, scoop them out of the oil and drain on kitchen paper. 
• Ready to be served with salad, dipping sauce of your choosing.

It is not my favourite dish to make, but let me tell you they were worth the effort.

Enjoy.

Patricia xxx...x

  



Vegetarian Offerings - Lentil and Mushroom Pie

It's nearly upon us - Christmas.  And this year for me it means a lot of planning and even preparing ahead.
We're having a Boxing Day Party for 20 adults and a few small children.  Whilst most guests are meat eaters, the 3 vegetarians will be well catered for. One of the vegetarian centerpieces is this Lentil Pie. It is cooling down at the moment and tomorrow morning I will carefully place it in the freezer, to be taken back out on Sunday evening.  Monday, it will be reheated in a hot(ish) oven.

Stuffing
Ingredients

• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 leek, cleaned, sliced in rings and rinced
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 500 grs Puy lentils
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 700 ml vegetable stock
• knob of butter or vegetable oil
• lots of freshly cracked black pepper
• seasalt to taste
• punnet of mushrooms, cleaned, sliced and sauteed in oil or butter
• and I hope I haven't forgotten anything

Preparation

• Sautee the onions, leeks and garlic in oil or butter over a moderate heat.
• Add the thyme.
• Then add the Puy lentils. And sautee these to, stirring regularly.
• Pour in the wine and simmer for 3 minutes before adding the stock.
• Add the pepper and leave to simmer, with lid on, till the lentils are cooked, but al dente.  Should take about 20 minutes.
• If the stock has evaporated before the lentils are cooked, you may need a little extra water.
• Taste and season. Sometimes adding a splash of balsamic vinegar, gives it an extra lift.
• Cool and take out 1/3 of the lentils.
• 2/3 can be blended with a handheld blender, not too smooth.
• Bring the blended and whole lentils together and put them in the fridge till needed.
• Oh, the mushrooms, they can be put in the fridge too. They'll come in at a later stage.

Pastry - shortcrust
Ingredients

• 700 grs plain flour, sieved
• 350 grs cold butter, cubed
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
• very cold water

Preparation

• Bring together the flour, salt, thyme, pepper and butter.
• Rub the butter into the flour, till it resembles crumbs.
• Then add in some water, not too much and the quantity will depend on the moisture content of the flour.
• Bring together, adding just the tiniest amount of water at a time - do not overwork the pastry, just pull it together.
• Shape into a ball, wrap with clingfilm and rest in the fridge for a couple of hours, overnight even.

Everything has cooled properly and you have lined a cake tin with greaseproof paper.  Your cake tin is preferably one with a removable base and spring-sided. My pie tin is 25 cm diam. and 7 cm high.

Ready to roll

• Roll out approx 2/3 of the pastry on a floured surface. I have a marble slab that I use for this purpose as it stays cold.
• Thickness of the pastry should be about 4 mm.
• Line your tin with the dough and leave enough overlap to 'glue' the pastry top to it later.
• Punch a couple of times with a fork over the base.
• Fill with half of the lentils.
• Scatter now the sauteed mushrooms over this, to be topped with the other half of the lentils.
• Roll out the rest of the pastry (same thickness)
• Hah ! You need a beaten egg now.
• Brush the sides with beaten egg (this is the glue that will hold the sides and top together.
• Cover the pie with the top layer of pastry and crimp together.
• Cut off any overhanging excess pastry
• Make a whole in the center of the top for any moisture that might turn into steam to escape.
• You can decorate with any leftover pastry, glued with egg.
• Eggwash all over the top.
• Put in fridge while the oven heats up. I heated the fan oven with extra heat from below to 210° C.
• Bake the pie for 15 minutes, than reduce the heat to 190°C for 30 minutes. 
• Seeing the stuffing was already cooked, you'll have to gauge when the pastry will be ready. A golden brown will do.
• Leave to cool for 20 minutes before taking out of the tin.
• Ready to eat straight away or you can let it cool even further as it is also tasty cold or room temperature.

Wow, that looked like a lot of work, but in all honesty, it wasn't.
And if you have made shortcrust pastry before, this will certainly be a doddle.

No cross section  picture of the pie, that is for after the party.
Only 50 more dishes to go ;) and I'm not intending to put all the recipes on here.  No time, gotta go !

Patricia xxx...x