Rozanne Hall’s green tomato mince filling and crumb topping recipes
For the past few weeks I have been having interesting email conversations with Rozanne Hall from America. Rozanne was a war baby born in the UK. Her father was a Canadian Army engineer serving in England and the continent who met her mother in Surrey, who was from Cork, Ireland. Rozanne grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and has lived in Oregon, near the California border, for over 25 years. Rozanne and her husband had a large garden in their Oregon home for years and now have a new (hobby) hay ranch where they have cattle, horses and chickens....
read moreHot crab apple and chilli jelly recipe
Everyone seems to be talking about chillies. They are said to trigger “feel good” endorphins and are packed with vitamin A, an immune system boosting antioxidant. Chillies improve the digestive process too as they stimulate the action of the intestine and stomach. This year I was determined to make crab apple and chilli jelly. My first attempt was so so. There was a chilli tingle when I tasted the juice. I chucked it away. My recipe from Oded Schwartz’s Preserving added 3-4 medium heat chillis. Are these desseded? I’d...
read moreEasy quince cheese recipe (membrillo)
I’m back at the helm and it’s marvellous to be feeling well and chirpy and slimmer. Forget Champneys. A week in bed with a bug does wonders for the figure. Danny put on his sensible parent hat this morning. He instructed me not to go to work, reasoning that more recuperation was required. He was right. I did feel weak. This afternoon, he relented slightly. “Why not go out foraging for an hour. You could do with some fresh air.” He passed me the foraging stick, tossed me his car keys and disappeared upstairs. I found...
read moreSimple baked egg recipe
My Mother prefers to eat a proper lunch rather than a big meal in the evening. Always one to watch her figure, she knew the dangers of eating too much late in the day. So in the school holidays we ate a ‘Proper Lunch’. Quite often this was forced down within an hour of getting out of bed. The culinary highlight of the day for me was supper. Everyone prepared their own meal. The fridge was bursting with good things. Perhaps this is why I prefer snacky food to proper meals all these years down the line. A constant, comforting staple...
read moreQuince jelly and other quince recipes revisited
I decided last week to turn some of the quinces from Anna’s garden into something delicious. I rubbed off the fluff, cut them into chunks and covered them with water and the zest of a lemon. They were simmering on the gentlest setting (lid on) for about four hours until they softened and the juice took on that deep pink hue. I strained the juice through a jelly bag overnight and popped both the juice and the strained flesh into the fridge. I was delighted to discover that both keep happily in the fridge for a couple of weeks. 800g of...
read moreThe ultimate soft pork meatballs recipe
Years ago when so called witches were awaiting trial, they were fed mouldy bread and water. Mouldy bread, in excess, causes hallucinations. And in the case of the witches probably sealed their fate. So I tend to avoid mouldy bread. We have been working on the ultimate pork meatball recipe. We now have a recipe for the softest melt in the mouth meatballs with the addition of a beaten egg. I decided to give Magimix her first run chez Cottage Smallholder. I oohed and aahed so much that Danny rushed into the kitchen to check what was going on....
read moreSmart Wife’s Perfect Yorkshire pudding recipe
We now have an even better recipe for Yorkshire puddings – these are crisp and keep their shape. Years ago Smart Wife taught me how to make perfect Yorkshire puddings. I often ruined the joint but our individual Yorkshire puds were perfect every time. Rising like a miniature Tower Of Pisa army, they happily deflected attention away from the teeth challenging meat. On Sunday, Danny suddenly gets serious at around six o’clock and puts on his King Of Roasts mantle. If he is cooking beef I am invited to be his Queen Of Yorkshire...
read moreEasy rare roast prime rib of beef recipe
A couple of weeks ago, Danny visited Fred Fitzpatrick’s, shopping list in hand. Suddenly Fred popped a well hung rib of beef into a bag and put it with our order. Danny was astonished. “I’m sorry Fred but I didn’t order that!” Danny is almost as passionate as I am about rib of beef. It must have been hard to say no. Fred beamed, “It’s a present for Fiona.” When I got back from work, Danny related the story and I examined the beef through the thin white bag. It had a bluish tint, I knew then that...
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