Food Minia

My husband came in today and asked me if I had seen the hundreds of chestnuts ripening on the tree that over hangs our garden. To be honest, I hadn't looked as the start of the chestnut season brings both pleasure and pain. I love the taste of the fresh chestnuts every year, but I can't deny that they are a pain to get ready and I feel that it is wrong to waste them. Our freezer is still bursting with the cleaned chestnuts that I put in it last year. I hasten to add that I gave some to friends as well as the ones that we ate at the time. So, watch this space. If you can suggest recipes I would love to hear about them.

In the last post I gave you the recipe for focaccia, but what I didn't tell you is that this dough makes an excellent base for pizza. All I did was roll it out thinner than the focaccia and top it with some: tomato passata, stoned olives, thinly sliced chorizo grated mozarella cheese a few dried herbs: origano or thyme Allow it to rise for about 30 minutes and cook in a very hot oven until brown and bubbling. One of the advantages of pizza over all other doughs is that you don't have to leave it to get cold before digging in.

Hi Rifler! What are you doing standing about here? I've moved; join me for a housewarming over at  The Spike . Everyone's been asking where you are. Just watch out for the punch... 

I've given this post a simple title but it is another of those foodie things that is simple but tastes wonderful. The wonderful comes from the ingredients. Good olive oil, rosmary from the garden and light bread dough. What could be better? Well. in truth the addition of mashed potatoes to the dough helps it along quite a bit as it makes it last longer and it has a softer crumb which means that it is good to eat even on the second day. Traditionally focaccia that you buy in Italy only stays fresh for a couple of hours. It is over yeasted to make it rise but this results in a bread that dries quickly. My Focaccia has the advantage of lasting but still tasting good. What you will need: 500g strong bread flour 40g instant mash potato, this is about half a sachet. 7g fast action yeast 300ml water for the bread dough and' 150ml boiling water to reconstitute the potato 12g salt Salamoia 30ml olive oil plus 30mil water fresh rosmary 1 teaspoon of rock salt. Into a large bowl put the f

Do you really always want elaborate cakes? Sometimes I do and sometimes it is the downright simple that really hits the spot. So, on that note, this cake is going to be one of the downright simple variety and no  less good for that. It is perfect with a hot cup of tea. One thing that my mother taught me about cooking was: If you don't put good things into your food don't expect a good result. So this cake is made with all good things but the making is simple. What you'll need: 250g self raising flour 120g butter 120g sugar 2 eggs perhaps a splash of milk 100g dried apricots, the no soak variety. Chop them up a bit 75g chocolate chips a teaspoon of vanilla extract To make: heat your oven to approx gas mark 4 or 160 C. Put the flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients until it resembles small peas. No need to be too fine with this. Add the apricots that should be about the size of peas, and the chocolate. Stir in. Break the egg into the mix