Grilled Cheese and mustard sandwich

The fridge and pantry cupboard always seem to be a bit bare after the weekend, but I always have cheese and today I also had some left over small ciabatta loaves. And what is more perfect than making grilled cheese sandwiches. 

This sandwich is fried gently and slowly in a pan, so that the cheese melts and runs out. The taste is so much better than if you’d toasted it in a toaster machine.  This amount of filling is enough for one small loaf, just double it up if you need more grilled cheeses.

Ingredients

 

1 T olive oil

1 small garlic clove, peeled

1 sprig fresh rosemary

50g strong cheddar cheese

½ t wholegrain mustard

1 egg yolk

A dash of Worcester sauce

1 t fresh parsley, chopped

1 small clove garlic, crushed

salt and pepper

1 small loaf ciabatta

Method

1. Place the olive oil, garlic clove and rosemary in a small pan and heat gently. Remove from the heat and let it rest for a while.

2. Mix the cheese, mustard, egg yolk, Worcester sauce, parsley and crushed garlic and season to taste with the salt and pepper.

3. Slice the loaf (I got six slices out the small loaf) and place three slices on a board.

4. Divide the cheese mixture between the slices and cover with the remaining slices. Brush the olive oil over the slices on both sides.

5. Pan fry the sandwiches very gently over a low heat until the bread is golden and the cheese mixture has melted.

Baked eggs or “oeufs en cocotte”

What a wonderfully fancy name for such a simple dish.  It might sound hard but really its easy and ready in a few minutes.  Quick to rustle up for breakfast or on Sunday nights when you just don’t feel like spending time in the kitchen.  It somehow has that feeling of comfort and conjures up all sorts of fabulous ideas.  You can make one egg per small ramekin or two eggs per medium size ramekin.

Serve it with sliced and toasted Turkish Ciabatta loaf (the Turkish loaf is a soft loaf), slice your loaf, spread with butter and a sprinkling of thyme leaves and a little grinding of sea salt.  Put under the grill until brown and crisp on the edges.

 

Ingredients

 

4 jumbo eggs

4 T cream

Salt and pepper

1 T thyme, chopped

Butter for the ramekins and a bit for the top

 

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C.

2. Grease 4 small ramekins with butter, break an egg into each and season with the salt and pepper.

3. Sprinkle on the thyme and a knob of butter in each ramekin.

4. Divide the cream between the ramekins.

5. Place in a roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

6. Bake for 10 minutes or until the whites are set and the yolks are how you like them.

Plum Jelly

 

One of the best things in life is a box of beautifully ripe plums in the height of summer.  They have been sitting in their bowl on the kitchen counter for a few days and even though we can try eating them all, it just isn’t going to happen before they spoil. 
 

I remember my gran making Crab Apple Jelly from the fruit in the back garden, and more recently I was thrilled to see Crab Apples growing in my brothers garden in England.  As I do not have Crab Apples in my garden, I got to wonder how Plum Jelly would work using the same recipe.  Well it’s worth a try….right? 

 

 

Ingredients

About 6kg plums

Water to cover

Sugar

Method.

1. Use the biggest pot you have.

2. Wash, halve and take the pips out the plums. Put them into the pot.
3. Cover with water to about 2 –3 cm above the level of the plums and bring to the boil.

 



4. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 2 hours. I covered the fruit with a cartouche, but its not essential just don’t put a lid on the pot.

 

 

5. Line a colander with a clean tea towel over a second pot.
6. Remove the plums from the heat and tip it into the colander.
7. Leave the plums to drain for about an hour. The tip here is not to push the plums down or press in any way, if you do you will get cloudy jelly.
8. Discard the fruit and measure the juice in the second pot.
9. For every 250ml juice you will need 100g sugar. Place the juice and the sugar in a pot and bring to the boil.
10. Reduce to a simmer and allow it to cook until the setting consistency is reached. (If you dip a wooden spoon into it, it should cling like honey)
11. Spoon the jelly into sterilized jars and seal. I use a round of wax wrap to sit on top of the jam. Store for about 6 months.