FOR Christmas, I am persevering in my lonely path of choosing
simple food, and not over-catering, but still pulling together
something interesting for people when they decide, after all, to
stay for supper, after a long, leisurely tea by the fire.
A Eurostar train we took in the summer offered a
Spinach-and-bean pâté, and an interesting
Artichoke-heart clafouti. I managed to come up
with a recipe for both of them. (For the pâté you can use frozen
spinach and tinned beans):
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
olive oil
1 cup cooked spinach
1 tin chick peas or cannellini beans,
drained
fresh lemon juice
½-1 teaspoon cumin
pinch cayenne
Chop the onion and garlic, and sauté them gently in a little
oil. When they are tender, add the cumin and cayenne to warm
through. Add the spinach, and then the beans. Liquidise the mixture
and season to taste with lemon juice and salt and pepper.
For the clafouti:
100g (4 oz) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
¾ cup milk
salt and freshly ground pepper.
1 tin artichokes, well drained
Light the oven to Gas 6/ 2000C/4000F. Butter a flan dish well,
and arrange the artichokes in it. Mix the batter ingredients in the
order given. Pour it over the artichokes, and bake until risen and
set, which will be about 30 minutes.
For a lighter version, blend:
1 tin artichoke hearts
1 large tub cottage cheese or crème
fraîche
1-2 cloves garlic
a grating of nutmeg
a grating of parmesan
Bake the mixture in buttered ramekins for about ten minutes.
If you prefer to use eggs rather than dairy, it works well as a
kuku (similar to frittata). Simply pour beaten eggs over chopped
artichoke hearts and season well. Bake the mixture in a
well-buttered pie-dish or ramekins, adjusting the time to suit.
Kukus are usually cooked to a fairly solid consistency, and cut
into little squares or diamonds, which can be eaten as canapés.
Claire gave us this excellent Savoury crumble.
This is her mixture. It can be varied with mushrooms or grated
courgettes, and it also works well with goat's cheese.
tomatoes (a mix of cherry and chopped
tomatoes works well)
feta cheese, cut into cubes
wholewheat breadcrumbs
pine nuts
Mix together the tomatoes and cheese in a gratin dish. Cover
with breadcrumbs and pine nuts, and bake in a moderate oven until
the tomatoes are bubbling.