Stilton, Potato & Caramelised Onion Tart

Whenever we go into a cheese shop the first thing my 2 year old son will do is ask for stilton.  Usually at the top of his voice, much to the amusement of anyone in earshot.  He's well known at both of our local cheese haunts - The Cheese Block and Mootown (whose Bermondsey Spa he is also quite partial too, especially when eaten straight off the knife) - for his adventures in strong, mature and stinky cheese.

It's hardly surprising though given the quantities of blue cheese I used to demolish as my parents pushed me around the market on a Saturday morning in my pushchair whilst they did their weekly shop.  My personal favourite was Danish Blue at that time, or so my Dad tells me.

Back in February we spent a week holed up in a converted barn in the foothills of the Black Mountains.  It was the sort of holiday where we sheltered from the freezing temperatures outside, ate copious amounts of cheese and pottered around the kitchen baking focaccia, coconut breakfast cake, cinnamon buns and savoury tarts. 

This tart, packed with new potatoes, caramelised onions and stilton, is what I'd refer to as a substantial tart.  The sort you only need a simple salad with in summer.  I'd had the idea for it in mind for quite a while, so baked it for the first time that week in Wales and more recently for my Tea Room at the Sunday Art Salon in Brockley.

I like it best when it's served cold for lunch or a picnic the next day.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

225g plain flour
110g unsalted butter
pinch salt
125ml cold water

For the filling:

5 medium onions
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp sherry vinegar
100g-150g good stilton, broken into pieces
6 medium new potatoes, cooked and sliced
300ml double cream
2 medium eggs
salt & black pepper

Method

Start by making the pastry.  Put the flour, salt and butter in a mixing bowl and rub together with your finger tips until they resemble breadcrumbs.  Add the cold water, a little at a time, and bring together to form a ball (you may not need it all), handling the pastry lightly and as little as possible.  Flatten into a patty, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Peel and halve the onions, then slice into 'half rings' about 5mm thick.  Heat a heavy based frying pan over a low heat, add the rapeseed oil and fry the onions for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until they are golden brown.  Don't try to rush this, they need to cook slowly to develop the flavour.  Add the sugar and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the sherry vinegar and cook for another minute.

Roll the pastry out to about 3mm thick and line a greased 23cm fluted, loose based tart tin.  Prick the surface of the pastry on the base of the tin gently all over with a fork, taking care not to push through to the tin.  Chill again for 10 minutes.  Line with foil or baking parchment and fill with baking beans.  Bake blind for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and foil / parchment and bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry has dried out and the base is cooked.

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180C.

Spread the caramelised onions over the base of the cooked pastry case.  Top with the cooked potato slices and then the stilton.  Whisk the eggs and cream together and season with a little salt and plenty black pepper.  Pour over the onions, potatoes and stilton until it nearly reaches the top of the pastry.

Cook the tart in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes until set and the pastry cooked through.  If the pastry around the edge is cooking too quickly you can cover it with foil.  

Leave to cool in the tin before removing to serve.

Roasted Cauliflower & Squash with Spiced Bulgur

Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that has always failed to inspire me. I'm not talking about the fractal beauty that is the romanesco cauliflower, but the common or garden white variety. In my kitchen they usually find their way into cauliflower cheese or curry (there's something about cauliflower and spices that works so well), but overrun with them as I was just before Christmas I decided to try something new.

I've fancied Denis Cotter's recipe for cauliflower with green peppercorns for a while, but a lack of green peppercorns in my cupboards put paid to that plan! Here I was looking at a rather large cauliflower that really was ready for eating and to be honest there wasn't a fat lot else in the fridge. Aren't the best recipes always the ones that come out of nothing?

You could add some cooked chickpeas to the squash and cauliflower 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time to make this a more nutritionally balanced vegetarian dish.

Ingredients

1 small cauliflower

1/4 of a crown prince squash or 1 small butternut squash

1/2 to 1 red chilli (sliced)

3 cloves garlic (peeled and left whole)

2 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper

For the spiced bulgur:

1 tbsp olive oil

6 cardamom pods

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 whole cloves

150g bulgur wheat

350ml water (approx)

salt & pepper
1 tbsp toasted nibbed almonds

For the caramelised onions:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions (sliced)

1 tsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp good sherry vinegar

salt & pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 190 C.

Peel the squash, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into thick slices. Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower, wash the cauliflower and then cut into thick slices (rather than breaking it into florets). Put the squash and cauliflower into a roasting tin with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the red chilli and whole cloves of garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper. Put into the oven for around 40 minutes until the cauliflower and squash are tender and beginning to crisp and brown at the edges.  Remove the garlic cloves.

In the meantime prepare the spiced bulgur and caramelised onions.

For the spiced bulgur, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small pan (which has a tight fitting lid) over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook for a minute stirring often, then add the cardamom and cloves. Stir in the bulgur and reduce the heat. Continue to stir over a low heat until the bulgur has turned from a golden to a nutty brown (without letting it catch or burn). Season and add the water. Bring to the boil, stir, put the lid on the pan and immediately reduce the heat to very low. Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes until the bulgur is tender but still with a little bite.  Fluff the bulgur with a fork, remove the whole spices and then stir through the toasted almonds just before serving.

For the caramelised onions, put the oil and onions into a heavy based pan over a low heat. Cook the onions very slowly, stirring often, until they begin to turn golden brown (this will take around 30-40 minutes) and then add the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cook for around another 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook until the liquid has disappeared. The onions should now be caramelised and a rich brown colour.

Serve the roasted squash and cauliflower on top of the spiced bulgur and finish with a spoonful of the caramelised onions.

Celeriac Gratin with Caramelised Onions

Over the summer I signed up to Local Greens - a not for profit weekly vegetable bag scheme providing seasonal veg from small organic or spray-free farms, which are as near to SE London as they can find.  To keep costs down, customers collect their bags from local pick up points (in Camberwell, Herne Hill and East Dulwich), rather than have them delivered to their door.  The idea is to use the minimum packaging and transportation so that they can pay the farmers a good price for their produce.  One benefit for me is that the veg has often been picked 24 hours or less before it makes it to my plate.

The majority of the ingredients in this recipe came from my Local Greens bag a couple of weeks ago and I bought some gorgeous golden rapeseed oil from Bambuni in Nunhead so this turned out to be a thoroughly locally sourced dinner!

It serves 2 hungry (greedy?) adults or a family of 3 or 4 if you reduce the amount of salt you use.  Perfect for an autumnal evening meal.

Ingredients

1 small celeriac

4-5 medium potatoes

3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

200ml single cream

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Grated parmesan or other hard cheese (this is a good chance to use up any odds and ends lurking in the fridge)

For the caramelised onions:

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 onions (sliced)

3-4 sprigs thyme (leaves only)

1 tsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp good sherry vinegar

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Peel and thinly slice the celeriac and potatoes (the easiest way to do this is in a food processor or using a mandolin, if you have either) and pop them straight into a bowl of cold water. Pat dry on a clean tea towel and then layer into a deep casserole dish, seasoning with salt and pepper and adding the garlic as you go. Pour the cream over the top and give the casserole dish a little shake to make sure it reaches the bottom layers. Sprinkle the cheese over the top (as much or as little as you like - I like a good layer!).

Pop into the oven for around 50 minutes to an hour, or until the potatoes and celeriac are cooked and browned on top.

Once the gratin is in the oven, put the oil and onions into a heavy based pan over a low heat. Cook the onions very slowly, stirring often, until they begin to turn golden brown (this will take around 30-40 minutes) and then add the sugar, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cook for around another 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook until the liquid has disappeared. The onions should now be caramelised and a rich brown colour.

Serve the gratin with a spoonful of caramelised onions and a crisp green salad lightly dressed with sherry vinegar and cold pressed rapeseed oil.