I used to think of quiche as a dull, beige pastry which got wheeled out from old cookery books from time to time and no one was particularly fussed about it. Turns out I was wrong. It's a most excellent pastry. I cooked my smoked salmon and broccoli quiche a few weeks ago, divided it up and froze it in wedges. Now I'm working from home I love to have something interesting for lunch. When it's quiche day, it's the best day of the week.
The freshness Smoked Salmon and Broccoli Quiche
I used to think of quiche as a dull, beige pastry which got wheeled out from old cookery books from time to time and no one was particularly fussed about it. Turns out I was wrong. It's a most excellent pastry. I cooked my smoked salmon and broccoli quiche a few weeks ago, divided it up and froze it in wedges. Now I'm working from home I love to have something interesting for lunch. When it's quiche day, it's the best day of the week.
The freshness 
I can't say no to blackcurrants; whatever they are in I will like it. They have such a distinctive flavour and when I found some at the market I had to set about making a blackcurrant frangipane tart. This tart is a marriage of two of my favourite things: blackcurrants and sweet almond frangipane.
The best thing about this tart comes from using raw blackcurrants. As they cook in the frangipane filling they burst and become sweet and sticky. The 
There's honey, and then there's honey. I like all of it but my preference is for local honey. Delicious in so many recipes I wanted to make the honey the star of the dish; so I set about baking a honey cake.
At a market recently I tried some different honeys from a local producer. Not only were they different to each other, and commercial honeys, in colour and texture but the taste was out of this world. I chose the wildflower honey and remembered 
Whenever peaches are in season I always plan to cook something with them. More often than not though I just end up eating the peaches from the fruit bowl because they're irresistible. Not this time! My peach and cherry crumble is so deliciously summery and the colour of the fruit once it's baked is divine. I'm so glad some of the peaches survived to make this crumble.
The delicate white flesh of the peaches combines so well with the vibrant red 
There's something special about watching the steam rise from a hot bowl of soup after you've been working in the garden all morning; you just know it's going to fill you up. My smoked bacon and kale soup came about simply to use up some ingredients in the kitchen. I cooked up enough for six portions so there's plenty in the freezer for a wet and windy day. We have rather busy weekends and when lunchtime comes it's nice to stop, take some time 
I had such a craving for some proper oat and raisin cookies. Ones which are crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle and about the same size as my face. I've tried several recipes in the past and they've tended to be not quite what I'm after in my perfect cookie. Until now. If you're after a healthy cookie I wouldn't read on any further.
ingredients
You will need (for 10 cookies):
225g unsalted butter, softened200g light brown sugar50g 
I often find that I buy nuts or seeds to make something particular and I get left with a few grams of them here and there. That's where my store cupboard shortbread comes in. This year I am attempting to use up ingredients in my cupboards and I thought I would start by using the last few dregs of cocoa powder and some leftover hazelnuts; I am so glad I did.
Ingredients
Makes 12 pieces of shortbread:
175g plain flour1 tbsp cocoa powder50g 
In my perfect world, a mince pie would be 70% pastry, 30% mincemeat. It's not that I don't like mincemeat I just don't like too much of it. That's where my mince pie crumble bars come in. A thick layer of buttery shortbread, a spiced mincemeat middle and further crumbly shortbread on the top. Let's be honest, it's mostly biscuit with a hint of Christmas. Perfect.
Ingredients
You will need (for 12 mince pie crumble bars):
300g softened 
When I cut into a lemon I can't help but give it a good sniff. It's the same with lime and grapefruit. There's something about that citrus smell that I just can't wait to inhale; especially if it's a drizzly day. I also love tropical flavours at this time of year: coconut, passion fruit, mango, you name it! Combining a bit of citrus and a bit of tropical was the idea here so I set about baking some lemon and coconut flapjacks.
I often make macaroni cheese, or some variation of it. I like to play around with adding vegetables, different cheeses or flavours in the sauce. This three cheese and cauliflower macaroni cheese is one of the most delicious I've made. The combination of Emmental (for sweetness and stringiness), Cheddar (for bite and cheesiness) and Parmesan (for savouriness) means you get the best of all the cheeses! And don't worry, there's a cauliflower in there 
