For those with the enthusiasm
to entertain I will continue to emphasise the importance of planning. However
there is always the great challenge of the ‘impromptu’ Unexpected guests
appearing or neighbours in distress in need of some comfort and often reconciled
with some food. On these occasions the deep freeze is not always the answer
apart from foods that are recommended to be cooked from frozen. So we have the ‘store
cupboard and fridge to turn to. Reprocessing leftovers or using items that are
part of the weekly shopping not yet used. Speed of course is the essence as
spending two – three hours cooking is not really practical.
On these occasions good
foundations are Potatoes, Rice or Pasta and then build. Some chopped onions
sweated in the microwave then add a tin of tomatoes and some mixed herbs. Add a
little ketchup or other seasoning of your choice to enhance and continue to
cook for up to 5 mins. This can be a good basic sauce to serve on Pasta – fish or Chicken pieces. Chopped Leeks again sweated
in the microwave. Add a stock cube and water and puree. Thicken with either
ground rice or instant potato powder and you have a soup. Cream Cheese blended
with a little cream or milk can make another sauce – add pesto and use with
Pasta or as a sauce for meats, fish or poultry.
What about a dessert. Fruit of
course – Ice Cream even. I always have a few meringues around which can be used
in any number of ways. Maple Syrup, Strawberry Sauce. Thin a little jam down
with hot water and there you have a sauce. I also love tinned Pie Fillings
particularly Black Cherry and of course for the Bananoffi Pie the ready caramelised
condensed milk that can also be used for a butterscotch tart. With a pie
filling you can always produce a crumble especially if you have a bag of readymade
crumble mixture in the deep freeze.
This month I am repeating one
of my favourites that I use and really is so simple. It bakes and produces its
own sauce and can be complimented with Ice Cream or Fresh Cream. I often double
or treble the recipe as it goes down rather well.
Lemon Layer Pudding
Juice & Rind of 1 Lemon
2 oz butter
4 oz C. Sugar
2 eggs separated
½ pt milk
2 oz S. R Flour
- Cream together the Butter, Sugar and Rind
- Add Egg Yolks and cream well – stir in the Milk, Lemon Juice and
Flour.
- Whisk the Egg Whites stiffly and then fold into the mixture
- Pour into a greased ovenproof dish – about 2¼ pts. Stand the dish
in a shallow tin of water and cook in the oven for about 45 mins until the
top is golden and set.
- Serve
