TARRAGON & THYME

Cheese is a big thing in this household, the stinkier the better and Camembert served molten in the oven and served with bread, celery, chutney or relish is a regular event.  But ever looking to increase my repertoire I came across this recipe.  I have had something similar to this before at a restaurant in the Lake District but hadn't located a recipe, that is until now. Serves 4 4 sheets filo pastry melted butter 1 x 220g/7oz whol Camembert cheese 1 teaspoon finely chopped basil 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1 egg beaten Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F. Brush each pastry sheet with melted butter and fold in half lengthwise.  Cut the cheese into 4 wedges.  Place one wedge on the end of each strip of pastry.  Sprinkle the basil and paprika over each cheese wedge, then fold a corner of pastry over to enclose the cheeses into a triangle shape, continue folding until the strip is used up, sealing the final edge with beaten egg. Brush the tops of the par...

On our visit in November to Geoff's sister Chrissy and her partner Nick, who lives up in Birmingham we went to a very big specialist food outlet called Becketts.  This was foodie heaven and we had a real good browse around . They had well hung meat, home made breads, pickles, jams and other preserves and a massive cheese counter.  Whilst browsing we happened upon a cheese which my partner had been trying to obtain for some time.  Stinking Bishop.  Needless to say we just couldn't pass it by, so we took one home to try.  It was absolutely delicious, expensive yes, but wonderfully flavoured and to our minds extremely moorish.  To quote: "What's it taste like? Contrary to popular belief there is no pear such as the 'Stinking Bishop'. The variety used in the perry (pear-based cider) in which this famous cheese is washed is actually called 'Moorcroft'. The truth is is that the perry itself is eponymous with a malodourous and drunken member of a loca...

It was a miserable damp morning here in Peterborough first thing, and then brightened up with the sun coming out this afternoon. I decided in my infinite wisdom that we were going to have a simple tea tonight,i.e. egg and home made chips, comfort food of the highest order. However, before I could achieve this I needed some more groundnut oil, which I hadn't purchased since last year (when I buy I tend to buy in bulk) so I decided that we needed the groundnut oil (the deep fat fryer I have only uses groundnut oil with the machine - when we had tried ordinary oil it had bubbled up all over and was a little dangerous to say the least. However one quick visit to Sainsbugs later and a little more shopping than planned and I came back with a selection of goodies, as well as some oil but they did not have the groundnut oil I was after, so am trying another one to see what happens with the pan. I also bought some fresh bread buns and OH was hungry so I prepared egg and bacon butties - ...

I love cheese and biscuits, the stinkier the cheese the better. My mum is very responsible for this as whilst she was carrying me someone mentioned a cheese called Gorgonzola> Mum had never had it before but she suddenly developed a craving for this and had to have some. So I was innoculated from the first with stinky cheese. Needless to say when Mum found out that she was carrying my brother it was early days and being superstitious she didn't tell my Nan until she was sure everything was okay. Well that was the intention, because mum developed a craving for Gorgonzola and my Nan took one look at her and said not again. She knew. Mild cheese is not an option in this house - it has to be strong and have flavour. Well cheese and biscuits is a common repast in this household, or a ploughmans or cheese sandwich served with a lovely crispy apple and a bit of chutney. Even the cheese is served with chutney or relish on the crackers - sometimes even a fruit cheese, although I h...