Savoury bread and butter pudding

For an inexpensive and easy meal a savoury B&B pudding is a good option.  As it is one of my daughter's favourites you might guess that it contains cheese!!  For one or two people I would suggest halving the amounts shown - except for the eggs - just use two.

• 300mls whole or semi-skimmed milk 
• approx 75g butter (you can use spread but butter really is preferable if you can afford it)
• 8 slices of slightly stale white bread, cut into triangles.  If it isn't already stale leave it out for a few hours.
• 3 eggs
• 1 onion
• cream cheese
• grated strong cheese 

1. Put the milk into a pan and heat to just below boiling point then allow to cool
2. Peel and chop the onion very small
3. Butter the bread and the dish
4. Spread the bread with the cream cheese
5. Arrange half of the slices of bread in overlapping rows in the dish and sprinkle half the onion over the top
6. Beat the eggs until well mixed, then beat the milk (and cream) into the mixture
7. Pour half the mixture over the bread and leave to soak in for around 20 minutes
8. Preheat the oven to 180ºC  gas mark 5
9. Arrange the other half of the bread and onion over the top and drizzle over the remainder of the egg custard mixture. 
10. Place the dish in a roasting tin and half fill the tin with water to create a bain marie then place in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown.
11. When ready remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Basics: Spoons

It occurred to me that not everyone is familiar with the sizes of spoons.  I can remember when I was much younger thinking that a tablespoon was the sort that was put on the table to eat dessert with.  It isn't.  In a set of cutlery there can be several different sizes of spoons. 

1. A teaspoon - I think most people know what this is, it generally holds approximately 5mls.
2. Dessert spoon - this is the one which you put on the table to eat dessert or cereal with.
3. Soup spoon - this is a round shape and is usually very distinct from all the other shapes.
4. Tablespoon - this is similar to a dessert spoon but is much larger, you really wouldn't want to put it in your mouth.  It usually holds approximately 15mls.

There are sometimes other spoons as well, some sets include a cereal spoon which is larger than a teaspoon but smaller than a dessert spoon.  A grapefruit spoon is a similar size to a teaspoon but is elongated and has a slightly pointy end.  An ice-cream spoon is teaspoon sized but is squarer although there are spoons for tall ice-creams which are like teaspoons but have very long handles.

I would recommend the purchase of a set of measuring spoons for cooking - usually you can pick them up for around £2 - to ensure consistency of measurement as different brands of cutlery are different sizes. 

Bread & Butter Pudding

There are a number of variations you can make to this classic dessert depending on your tastes.  I will show the standard recipe first and then give a few ideas of how you can change it.
For one or two people I would suggest halving the amounts shown - except for the eggs - just use two.

• 50g dried fruit - your choice - currants, sultanas, raisins or a mix of all three.
• 300mls whole or semi-skimmed milk or 200mls milk and 100mls double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla essence - optional
• approx 75g butter (you can use spread but butter really is preferable if you can afford it)
• 8 slices of slightly stale white bread, cut into triangles.  If it isn't already stale leave it out for a few hours.
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons sugar

1. Put the milk into a pan with the vanilla essence and heat to just below boiling point then allow to cool
2. Butter the bread and the dish
3. Arrange half of the slices of bread in overlapping rows in the dish and sprinkle half the fruit over the top
4. Beat the eggs with the sugar until well mixed, then beat the milk (and cream) into the mixture
5. Pour half the mixture over the bread and leave to soak in for around 20 minutes
6. Preheat the oven to 180ºC  gas mark 5
7. Arrange the other half of the bread and fruit over the top and drizzle over the remainder of the egg custard mixture. 
8. Place the dish in a roasting tin and half fill the tin with water to create a bain marie then place in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown.
9. When ready remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

As an alternative to the usual fruit based bread and butter pudding you can add marmalade to the bread (also known as Osborne pudding), alternatively you could use jam or even chocolate spread.  A favourite with us is to spread the bread with butter and a caramel spread which we buy in France although we have occasionally found it in England.  In France it is called Confiture du lait (which translates as "milk jam") although I can't remember what the English label says,   it does clearly say it is caramel, and is made by Bonne Maman.

Tuna Pasta Bake

This is just as good cold as it is hot.  I usually make it with thread egg noodles (in which case it is called Tuna Noodle Bake).  When we eat this hot I often serve it with hot beetroot - just buy the vacuum packed stuff from the supermarket (it keeps for ages unopened in the fridge) empty it into a microwave friendly dish and using a fork to hold it cut it into quarters with a knife then microwave it for a couple of minutes.  Cold, it can be served with either beetroot, salad or whatever you want.


You will need

• 1 onion
• 1or 2 can(s) of tuna
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1oz flora
• 1 pint milk
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Breadcrumbs
• Grated mature cheese
• 1 mug of dried pasta per person

• Put the pasta on to boil

• Melt a 1oz knob of butter or flora in a pan
• Dice the onion
• Place the onion in the melted butter and stir, do not over cook, this needs to be very al dente.
• Add 1 tablespoon of flour and a teaspoon of paprika, stir into the onions and cook for approx 1 minute.
• Remove the pan from the heat, add the milk a little at a time and stir in well, until the sauce is smooth.
• Drain the can of tuna, flake the fish and add to the sauce.
• Drain the pasta when cooked and add to the sauce.  
• (At this stage you can stop if you wish and just eat it as a pasta dish)
• Turn the mixture into an ovenproof dish and smooth the top.  Put the breadcrumbs and cheese into a dish and mix together then sprinkle them over the top of the dish.  
• Put the dish under the grill to melt the cheese.