🥘 Carole’s courgette fritters…

These courgette fritters make a great starter, side dish, or main course. You will need a mixing bowl and large frying pan.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large courgettes
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 15g oregano leaves finely chopped (1/2 small packet)
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes plus extra to serve
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper

To serve:

  • 100g vegetarian feta cheese crumbled
  • Clear honey

Step by step:

  1. Coarsely grate the courgettes into a bowl. Place them on a clean tea towel, gather up the sides of the tea towel and squeeze out the liquid from the courgettes.
  2. Put the courgettes, eggs, flour, baking powder, oregano, cumin seeds and chilli flakes in the mixing bowl. Season well with salt and pepper and beat together.
  3. Set your frying pan over a medium-high heat and drizzle in some vegetable oil. Spoon several neat dollops of the courgette mixture into the frying pan. Press them down to make them about 3mm to 4mm thick. Don’t overcrowd the pan and cook the pancakes in batches for approximately 1 minute until the undersides are nicely browned. Flip them over and cook until the other sides have browned.

Serve the fritters immediately topped with crumbled feta, a little drizzle of honey, a sprinkling of chilli flakes and a few leaves of basil leaves or chopped parsley.

We have been experimenting with the flavoured Maldon sea salt varieties. They make chilli, garlic and smoked flavoured flakes. You can find them in supermarkets and delicatessens. Find them and a whole load of recipes at their website Maldon Salt

Maldon smoked sea salt £1.95 Sainsbury’s

🥂 Veuve Clicquot…

Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin

A brief history of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin. ⏱️ Sixty second read.

Born in 1777 in Reims, she married Francoise Clicquot in 1798 and was widowed in 1805. She launched her own company Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin 1810. She died in 1866 in Paris.

Advertisement from the 1930s

Two businessmen, Mr Ponsardin and Mr Clicquot ‘arranged’ the marriage of their children Francoise Cliquot and Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin. This practice was quite common at the time and designed to protect families fortunes.

When Francoise died suddenly aged just 30 his father intended to wind up the business he had built with his son. However, Barbe-Nicole convinced her father in law, Philippe Clicquot to invest in her and keep the business going.

To cut a long story short, this proved a shrewd move and Veuve Clicquot became the first known vintage champagne in 1810, the first rosé was introduced in 1818. In a moment of genius Barbe-Nicole came up with the technique of removing the yeast by-product that comes from making champagne.

The distinctive yellow label, a sign of quality.

In addition to establishing champagne as the luxury drink for special occasions, Madam Clicquot also established the technique known as riddling which enabled removal of sediment formed from yeast fermentation. This process has been adapted by nearly all champagne and fizzy wine producers. For more information about the process > HERE

Back to main page> Reims

🥁 Howard Guyton – I Watched You Slowly Slip Away…

(EX+) £350

Original USA Demo in fabulous condition. From the pen of Teddy Randazzo both sides are great. I Watched You Slowly Slip Away has been a top Northern Soul side for over fifty years and most copies that turn up for sale nowadays are knackered.

Flipside is a cool tune too.
Vinyl is bright and shiny

Postage is £10 (1-3 records). Text 0044 (0) 7788 215744 or email deesu@hotmail.co.uk to reserve or for more information.

Guide to record gradings Here

🇪🇸 Benidorm…

Nice top floor apartment at the northern end of Levante beach. Superbly well appointed with everything you need for a relaxing stay. Large glazed terrace and secure basement parking.

Residence Vacanza – Torre Monaco, available on the major booking sites or you can contact the owner direct 34 642 7128 83. Very comfortable with spectacular views over the city and the sea. The 12pm checkout with a simple leave the keys in the box meant no dashing about on the last day. 🐾 Pets welcome on request.

The beach and restaurants are ten minutes walk and the area is quite hilly which gives great views but might not be easy for any less able walkers.

The gated grounds are very relaxing and this in an ideal getaway for a few days

Known as entertainment capital of the costa blanca, Benidorm is easily accessed with daily flights to Alicante international airport. Regular shuttle buses and inexpensive taxis make road access easy.

The coastal tram connects from Alicante in the south up to Denia in the north.

Travel further north and visit Javea and Alcossebra. Going south El Campello is a nice stopover.

🥘 Carole’s leek and spinach soup…

Easy to make and packed with vitamins A, C and K.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • a knob butter
  • 3 leeks, halved, washed and finely sliced
  • 2 courgettes washed and chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1.5 litres vegetable or chicken stock
  • 200g baby spinach
  • 2 slices stale sourdough, torn or cut into small pieces
  • 100ml single cream
  • 50g feta cheese

Step by step:

  1. Warm the olive oil and butter in your saucepan. Add the leeks and courgettes and cook for 10 minutes. When the vegetables are nicely softened add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in your stock and bring to a boil.
  2. Add your bread and spinach to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Use a stick blender to whizz the soup to your desired consitency. Season to taste and serve in warmed bowls with a swirl of cream and crumbled feta.

Notes:

Add mushrooms and frozen peas, chopped potatoes or leftover veg if you want a thicker soup.

We use Kallo® organic vegetable stock cubes and a splash or two of Maggi® seasoning.

£1.50 for 8 cubes – Waitrose Special Offer

Did you know, you can buy Filippo Berio products on line. Check out their Special Offers HERE

🥘 Carole’s orange basque cheesecake…

🥘  1 baking tin  🍽 Serves 8  
🛒 11 ingredients £8

I first had this cheesecake at Café Iruña in Pamplona and the combination of the ‘almost burnt’ cream with crunchy biscuit base and caramelised boozy oranges got me hooked. Ably washed down with a glass of cava it was the perfect end to a lovely lunch.

We have recreated the cheesecake to the best of our ability here.

Ingredients:

Have your ingredients weighed & ready

For the base

  • 150g digestive biscuits
  • 75g unsalted butter

For the filling

  • 50g unsalted butter, softened
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 450g full-fat soft cream cheese
  • 25g plain flour
  • finely grated zest of 2 oranges plus juice of 1
  • 3 free range eggs, separated
  • 150ml whipping cream

For the caramelised oranges

  • 6 oranges
  • 2 tbsp Grand Marnier or Cointreau
  • 200g granulated sugar

You will need an electric hand whisk and a 23cm diameter loose bottomed cake tin.

Step by step:

1. Line the base and sides of your cake tin with greaseproof paper.

2. Preheat your oven to 170 C, 150 C fan, 325 F, gas 3. Put the biscuits in a polythene bag and crush to fine crumbs.

Mix the crushed biscuits with the butter and use to line the base of the tin, pressing down firmly with the back of a spoon. Chill the biscuit base while you make the filling.

3. Place the butter, sugar, cream cheese, flour, orange zest and juice, and egg yolks in a large bowl and beat well with an electric hand whisk until smooth.

Lightly whip the cream then fold it into the mixture.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture. Pour this filling over the biscuit base and level the surface.

5. Place in the oven for 1 to 1½ hours until just set and starting to colour, turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven for another hour.

Run a palette knife around the outside edge to loosen the cheesecake and cool completely on a wire rack.

6. To make the caramelised oranges, remove all the peel and pith from the oranges and slice thinly, removing any pips. Lay them in a dish and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier, Cointreau or other orange-flavoured liqueur.

Put the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with 150ml of water, place over a medium heat and allow the sugar to dissolve, swirling the pan occasionally.

Increase the heat and allow the mixture to reach a rich caramel colour, remove from the heat and carefully add a little more water until you have a thick syrup.

Place the orange slices on top of the cheesecake, pour the syrup over the oranges and allow to cool. Decorate the finished cheesecake with caster sugar.

Use candied orange peel – available from supermarkets
Café Iruña – Pamplona

For more information about the Café Iruña go direct to their history page HERE

Ernest Hemingway was a regular customer.
A bronze bust of the American writer remains at the bar today.

🥘 Carole’s fruit fool…

🥘  1 bowl   🍽 Serves 6   🛒 7 ingredients £5

Ingredients:

  • 400g mixed summer fruits
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • ½ lemon (zest and juice)
  • 2 tbsp elderflower cordial
  • 250g Greek Yoghurt
  • 250g crème fraîche
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
  • flaked almonds

Step by step:

  1. Place the fruit in a bowl, sprinkle over the icing sugar, lemon juice and elderflower cordial. Stir and leave to macerate for 1 hr.
  2. Whisk the Greek yoghurt and crème fraîche together with the vanilla extract if using.
  3. Mix the fruits and yoghurt mixture together and spoon into 6 serving dishes or glasses.
  4. Serve topped with the almonds and some fresh fruit

Notes:

If you don’t have ripe fresh fruits, use frozen fruits from the supermarket.

Alternatively, try a passion fruit fool. Sieve the pulp of 2 passion fruits and whizz the juice with ½ a ripe mango. Mix with the yoghurt & crème fraîche mixture and spoon into the serving glasses and top with the passion fruit seeds.

Yeo Valley 200g £1.40 from Sainsbury’s
Frozen fruits £2.50 / 500g Sainsbury’s
Aldi 1kg fruits. £2.99

🥘 Carole’s quick minestrone soup…

🥘  1   🍽 Serves 6-8   🛒 13 ingredients
 ⏱ 20 minutes £6 (LF)

Minestrone soup is a joy to make and although there are recipes, the beauty and fun part is that you can make it up as you go along using whichever vegetables you have to hand. The most important thing is to use a good olive oil and we always use Filippo Berio for perfect results.

Ingredients:

  • 6 rashers streaky bacon, cooked
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 celery stick, finely chopped
  • 2 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 large courgette, chopped
  • 2 large mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 tsp dried basil or herbs of your choice
  • 1 400g tin cannellini beans
  • 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1.2 litre vegetable stock
  • Filippo Berio Olive oil
  • Fresh basil

Step by step:

  1. Chop the bacon and fry until slightly crispy.
  2. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the fresh vegetables. For a thicker soup, stir through 2 tbsp of plain flour
  3. Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer until vegetables are cooked to your liking.
  4. Add some dried basil
  5. Add the cannellini beans without their liquid and cook for another 5 minutes
  6. Serve piping hot with a good drizzle of olive oil and chopped basil

Notes: We like the vegetables with crunch, hence the short cooking times. If you prefer the vegetables softer just cook a little bit longer.

We haven’t used garlic or extra greens in this soup, but kale and cavolo nero go well added towards the end of cooking.

We also drained the cannellini beans as their liquid can be salty

Did you know, you can buy Filippo Berio products on line. Check out their Special Offers HERE