Date, orange & pistachio bread & butter pudding

After a ridiculously mild autumn, winter seems to have hit with a sudden vengeance and as usual the weather is having a huge affect on what I want to eat. Proper puddings seem to be the order of the day, no longer satisfied with a yogurt or piece of fruit, there seems to be a demand by my body for something richer and more substantial. Today’s bitterly chilly wind and a lingering head cold meant I wanted to go nowhere further than a quick dash to school and back. So pudding had to be constructed from what we already had. For me one of the most pleasurable things about cooking are a peek in the fridge, a rummage through the cupboards followed by a good hard think about the possibilities. Borne, I guess, from sense of frugality and thrift, there is simply nothing nicer than creating something delicious from nothing. No visits to the shop, no hunting for speciality ingredients, but something created from leftovers and bits and bobs. This bread and butter pudding was perhaps one of my best ever ‘bits & bobs’ dishes. I had none of the more usual raisins or currants but I did have some dried dates that were right up against there best before date. I had an orange, half a pot of cream, and of course I had eggs. And a rummage in the booze cupboard yielded a joyful but near empty bottle of Cointreau left over from a cocktail party many moons ago. Only two tablespoons, but enough to lift it from the gorgeous to the completely sublime. Oh yes, I was really very pleased with this…...

100g dried dates, roughly chopped

1 large orange, zest & juice 

250ml milk

150ml double cream

3 eggs

2 tbsp orange liqueur, such as Cointreau (optional) 

9 slices good quality white bread, crusts trimmed - slightly stale is best (weighing about 250g after crusts removed) 

30-40g butter, plus a little extra for greasing the dish

100g shell on pistachios, yielding about 50g nuts, roughly chopped

2-3tbsp demerara sugar

In a small saucepan, simmer the dates in the orange juice for a couple of minutes then turn off and leave to infuse for a few minutes whilst you make the custard.

Mix together the orange zest with the milk, cream, eggs and liqueur if you are using it. Stir through the dates and orange juice.

Generously butter the bread, cut into wedges or triangles depending on the shape of your loaf and arrange half of it in a lightly greased baking dish. I used thin slices from a large flat, round ‘boule’ type bread. It had plenty of lovely air holes which made wonderful pockets for the custard to puddle in.  Pour over half the custard, then top with the remaining bread, followed by the rest of the custard. Leave to soak together for around 30 minutes before cooking.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.     

When you are ready to cook it, sprinkle the pistachios and demerara sugar evenly over the surface. Bake for around 30-35 mins until the custard has just set, but still has a slight wobble to it, and the surface is crisp and golden.

Serve warm from the oven. I found it rich enough to eat on its own but you may want to offer a little extra cream alongside. 

Asparagus season is here!!

We have just returned from a holiday in the Highlands to find that Bristol has literally sprung from spring to summer during the course of week. In Scotland the trees were barely in bud and the wind was still bitter, whilst at home the woods below our house have turned the bright acid green that signals the true end to winter. The wisteria growing up the front of the house, my botanical pride and joy and a mothers day present from my little boy 4 years ago, is in full bloom now, looking and smelling amazing. The flowers last barely two weeks yet I spend all year anticipating the glorious explosion of purple and white.

The chickens have been looked after by friends who happily have been rewarded amply with eggs. It is the first time they have been left that long and I was a little anxious about it. One of the conditions placed upon their arrival was that we could still find plenty of time for family adventures and wouldn’t be tied to the house over the holidays, so it is with great relief to find they have been utterly content without us.

We came back from holiday to find the asparagus season has started early thanks to near-perfect weather conditions. Like the flowering of my wisteria, the start of the English asparagus season is something I long for every year. It is one of those rare things that I refuse to buy if its not in season. Spanish strawberries I can deal with occasionally, Peruvian asparagus I cannot and it never enters my shopping basket. Once the season starts I eat plenty, several times a week, to get my fill. Luckily it is a natural partner to eggs and I can think of numerous ways to make the most of it - a variety of wonderful tarts and quiches, cheesy asparagus muffins and asparagus ‘soldiers’ for boiled eggs, to name but a few. 

But the house is in post-holiday chaos, the washing is spilling in huge piles all over the floor and I have no time for pastry this week. Plus, the sun is shining warmly, the garden looks gorgeous and this is to be the first al fresco evening meal of the year. So it is a simple quick salad I turn too. Using a few odds and sods foraged from a bare fridge, some stale bread and, most satisfyingly, handfuls of salad leaves from the first harvest of the garden.

It was all ready in a matter of minutes and up the garden we went, glass of wine in hand, thanking the chickens for their contribution to our supper as we passed them by…... and yes, you have a little picture, a bit gloomy, it was dusk by the time we ate.

Crispy bacon, asparagus & egg salad with creamy mustard dressing

Serves 2

8 rashers smoked streaky bacon

3 eggs

1 bunch English asparagus, woody ends trimmed

2 generous handfuls salad leaves

2 thick slices of bread, cubed - I used seeded bread as thats what I had, 

sourdough would also be nice

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled & bruised

for the dressing:

2 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise

1-2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

Freshly ground black pepper

Cook the bacon until crisp, either by frying or grilling, then chop into bite sized pieces.  

To make the croutons, heat the oil in a frying pan along with the bruised garlic. When the garlic turns a golden brown, remove and discard it. Add the cubes of bread and fry until crisp, tossing about in the oil to ensure they are evenly cooked.

Boil the eggs to your liking - I like mine pretty much hard boiled all the way through, so cook them in a pan of cold water brought up to the boil and simmered for 5 minutes. If you like your eggs soft, cook for 3 minutes, or 4 minutes for a midway point between the two. Peel and quarter.

Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients in a small bowl, adding the vinegar to taste depending on how sharp you like it. Season with plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Bring a large pan of salted water up to a brisk boil. Cook the asparagus for 3-4 minutes or until just tender but with a little bite. Drain well.

Assemble the salad by arranging the leaves on a plate, topping with the bacon pieces, egg quarters, croutons and asparagus. Finally drizzle over the dressing and eat immediately.