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    Slow cooked beans with sausage

    Ended up making this without sausages, and it doesn’t even need them. Like the nicest baked beans, in a Mediterranean style, imaginable.  Would love to try with sausage, or pork belly, and certainly with non-canned beans (I used cannellini on this occasion), but honestly this was excellent on its own, and could be an accompaniment  but to almost anything. From Taverna pg. 176

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    Sweet, tender butter cake

    Wonderful, soft, flavoursome cake. Reduced sugar to 100g and I think that’s correct. Used fresh blueberries on top, which worked, but is not attractive and you could go on other directions. When warm this is almost pudding like. Really great, worth more attendion. Pg. 9, Baking Bible

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    Baked Vegetables with eggs

    Allow me to summarise… 190c. Chunky wet things in from the start, season and oil. Thin, less chunky things in after 30 minutes for 8 more, then crack over some eggs and put it back in for a final 8 minutes. Very good. The eggs bring this together. From From the Oven to the Table, pg. 140

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    Fairy Cakes

    Love this recipe from Peyton & Byrne, it results in cloud soft, moist, flavoursome cakes. However as written in my oven it gives them a bit of an exterior crisp that just won’t do. In an effort to remove this I’ve resolved to identify the cause and refine the instructions. There are three variables that could affect this. 1. Amount of sugar 2. Temperature of oven 3. Position of cupcakes in the oven On this occasion I used the following… 165c 160g sugar Second from bottom shelf position In the size of muffin tin I have this makes 8 cakes,…

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    Prawn Bouillabaisse

    Simple and reliable. Using celery rather than fennel, fennel would be magic. Feel that you could stew a touch longer to get a deeper flavour, and you can afford to be generous with the saffron here, the prawns and tomatoes working beautifully with the saffron’s fragrance. From 3 2 1, pg. 204

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    Lancashire hotpot

    I really loved this… One of my favourite things I’ve cooked in recent times. Used hogget cutlets. Not even tempted to try other versions in truth. It’s great. Simple. Incredibly tasty. How to make Lancashire hotpot – recipe | Felicity Cloake’s Masterclass A hearty meal you can leave to bubble away in the oven, plus a bonus recipe for pickled red cabbage as the perfect accompaniment Felicity CloakeThe Guardian

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    Spanish beans and picada

    This should have almonds and Marsala in it… They’re even in the original title of the thing. But I forgot to use the almonds and had no Marsala. Continuing my recent experiment of using vodka a cooking alcohol, and continuing it’s 100% success rate, I muttered under my breath at the lapse of the almonds and carried on. It’s simple triumph. Delicious and easy. Add a little lemon zest and juice to the picada and I wouldn’t change it. I just used any old bread crumbs, though I’m sure sourdough would be delightful… Honestly I loved the picada so much…

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    Roast red peppers with nduja

    Real nice. Used feta instead of burrata, baked with the peppers from the start, which worked.  Happy to try out with burrata or mozzarella also though. Could push it another 5 or 10 minutes in the oven to char them more. from oven to table pg. 152