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Cherry Tomato thing! It hasn't got a name maybe someone would like to name this recipe! I never used to eat tomatoes but this way they are so sweet, makes a lovely starter or accompaniment. Ingredients: loads of lovely small cherry tomatoes 1 half of puff pastry frozen packet 1 tube of tomato puree 1 small sachet of garlic butter (could make this yourself if you are that resourceful) 1. Defrost half a pack of frozen puff pastry 2. roll it out until have about 1cm thickness into rectangle 3. with sharp knife score a border round the pastry but do not cut the pastry about 1inch all the way round 4. slather on tomato puree as base within border 5. cut all the tomatoes in half and place onto of the tomato puree alternating the tomatoes one face down one face up all the way across covering the entire pastry. 6. put little dollops of garlic butter over top, not too much 7. cook on medium heat 175 until pastry rises and crispy and tomatoes mashed in texture. can eat this hot or cold but i love it hot. zoë x

CHILLI CON CARNE: 1-lb Steak Mince 1 Large Onion, finely chopped 1 Green Pepper, chopped 1 tin Chopped Tomatoes 1 tin Kidney Beans (drained and rinsed) 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce 1 teaspoon Hot Chilli Powder (use Mild is you don't like it too hot) Salt to taste Brown mince and onion in saucepan on highish heat for 5 minutes until brown - no oil, just dry fried. Add the chopped pepper for a further minute. Then add the chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire Sauce and Chilli Powder and about half teaspoon of Salt. Lastly add the kidney beans. Reduce heat, cover with lid and simmer for half hour or so. Serve with boiled Long Grain Rice. For Perfectly Separated Rice - add rice to boiling salted water. Continue to simmer covered for 13 minutes. Drain in sieve and rinse with hot water. Kathy

TINGLY FRUIT SALAD Mixed with fresh mint leaves, this berry and melon combination is easy for kids to love. Prepare it a few hours ahead of time and it will develop a light, sweet syrup. for adults add a splash of your fav tipple : ) Ingredients: 1 pt. raspberries 1 pt. blueberries 1 small honeydew melon 1 small cantaloupe 2 tsp. sugar 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves (optional) Rinse the raspberries and blueberries, and allow time for them to dry thoroughly. Seed and cube both melons. In a stainless steel or glass bowl, toss together the berries, melon and sugar. (Of course, you can add or substitute other fruits, but keep in mind that fruits like bananas, pears and apples oxidize quickly and will discolor.) Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours. Right before serving, wash the mint leaves and use scissors to snip them into small pieces. Toss in with the fruit.

I got this recipe from Schwartz and its really good Tuscan Cheese & Basil pasta Sauce 25g butter 1 onion, Chopped 2 tbs flour 1/4tsp mustard powder 300 ml milk 150 ml vegetable stock 1/2 tsp onion pepper 1 tsp Basil or fresh if you prefere 1/4 tsp salt 152g chedder cheese grated 15g parmesan grated 25g cream cheese 175g ham sliced 225g pasta cooked melt butter in large saucepan add onion and fry 1-2 mins until softened Stir in flour and mustard powder and cook for 30 seconds blend in milk and stock, bring to boil stirring. Add onion pepper, Basil salt chedder cheese parmesan and cream cheese simmer for 1-2 minutes. stir in ham and pasta. transfer to flameproof serving dish sprinkle with a little more grated chedder and grill till golden. sue

EMERGENCY PUDDING Smash up some old (Army) biscuits with a bayonet, or suitable instrument. Place them in a canteen. Half-fill with water, and add some orange peel. Boil to a delicious orange-flavoured paste. Serve with condensed milk. (Adapted from lst World war recipe for soldiers in the trenches) 'How to cook in your Tin Helmet' Sorry Bob, but this isn't a recipe that I've tried and tested, my tin helmet is being used for something else!!! Norah

Norah This isn't good enough.... I demand that you liberate your helmet from whatever use you are putting it to and test the recipe now. I will expect your report in the morning. Bob

Hi This recipe given to me by a friend who is a chef. Very tasty soup. Liz CARROT AND CORRIANDER SOUP 6 PEOPLE ¼ pint of cream 1 large onion 1 ½ pounds carrots 1 large potato 1 clove garlic (optional) Salt and pepper to taste Caraway seeds to finish (optional) 2 teaspoons Corriander - I use a level teaspoon, but can be adjusted according to taste. 1. Chop onion and peel carrot and potato. Place in saucepan add 2 pints of water boil until cooked. 2. Add cream, salt, pepper, and blend. 3. Add coriander and caraway just before serving.

All you fantastic cooks out there have given me ideas to last a month. my missus is disabled, and so i do nearly all of the cooking [and enjoy it ladies].My grandad gave me a recipe many years ago for traditional bucks bread pudding which i make often,but i lost another ,which sounds very much like todays Banoffi pie, ,[banana, evap milk,]and other bits i can,t remember .Can anyone help? as i,m getting wrong because she loves it bless her, and she never asks for nowt, and i would love to make it for her.Denis tfn Newcastle.

Denis If you type "Banoffi Pie" into Google you get thousands of hits. This one looked as good as any... (Note it's condensed milk not evap) Banoffi Pie About 1/2 packet Digestive and/or Ginger biscuits. 2 oz butter 1 tablespoon sugar (optional) 1 tin condensed milk 3 bananas, sliced lengthwise 1 pint whipping cream, whipped The day before, place unopened can of condensed milk into a pan of water and boil for three hours - don't let it boil dry whatever you do or the tin could explode. Allow to cool. Make biscuit base by turning the biscuits into crumbs, melting the butter in the microwave (only about 30 seconds), mixing the two together with the sugar, if using, and pressing down into a flan dish. Leave in the fridge to harden. Next day, open the can of milk, which will have turned to toffee, and spread it over the biscuit base - which will try and stick to the toffee, so just swoosh it round as best you can. Top this with the sliced bananas, and instantly with the cream (if you hang about, the bananas will go brown and ucky). Refrigerate until wanted. You could make it with peaches for someone who is allergic to bananas; if you use fresh peaches, pour boiling water over them for a minute to enable them to be peeled easily. Drained tinned peaches are fine, too. I also saw a suggestion that you could prepare several tins of condensed milk and keep them unopened ready for future use. They would keep indefinately.l Bob

Denis, If you follow Bob's recipe for BANOFFI PIE, but cover the base with the sliced bananas before spooning on the "cooked" condensed milk, it shouldn't stick too much. Alternatively you could use a ready bought sweet pastry case. I've boiled the can of condensed milk for 2 hours, with the same result. Also if you dip the banana slices in lemon juice they won't go brown. (Hope Bob isn't offended)!! Good luck, Kathy

Kathy. Why ever would I be offended your suggestion looks great.

Bob, thought I may have sounded like a know-all. This is a great thread for food-lovers. Wish I'd thought of it first!! These are some well-tried old-fashioned recipes: OLD-FASHIONED TREACLE TART: 4-oz Plain Flour, sifted; 2-oz Margarine 4 tablespoons Golden Syrup 1/2 teacup White Breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice Preheat oven to 180C degrees. 1. Rub fat into flour and mix to dough with a little cold water. 2. Measure syrup into saucepan, add breadcrumbs and lemon juice and warm gently on stove. Remove from heat. 3. Roll out pastry and line a greased pie plate. (You can use a casserole lid if you don't have a pie plate). Prick base and cut six long strips for lattice. You may need to reroll the trimmings for this. 4. Pour syrup mixture into pastry case and twist pastry strips for lattice - place three across and three down, wetting ends to stick to pastry case. Bake for half an hour. Leave to cool and serve with cream or custard.

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING: 1 large Egg; 3/4 pint Milk; 1-oz Sugar; 2 thin slices White bread and Butter; 1-oz Sultanas; Few drops of Vanilla Essence. Serves 3-4 Preheat oven to 190C degrees 1. Cut bread and butter twice diagonally into 8 triangles 2. Arrange neatly overlapping into greased pie dish. (You could use a casserole bowl - but not too big!) 3. Sprinkle sultanas in between the bread and butter triangles. 4. Beat egg well in bowl, add sugar and essence. 5. Heat milk in small pan until hot but not boiling. 6. Pour milk over egg mixture beating all the time. 7. Pour custard mix over bread and butter and leave to soak for 20 minutes. This is important, otherwise it will not rise. 8. Bake for 30-40 minutes until well risen and golden. Serve with cream.

Yorkshire Pudding I know that a lot of people have trouble with this and there are many tricks like using soda water or adding vinegar but this is what works for me: 8oz plain flour 2 medium eggs 1 pint of milk (Straight out of the fridge) (or ½ milk ½ water) 1tsp salt Seive the flour and salt into a basin and then mix in the eggs with a fork (break them into a dip in the middle of the flour so that the egg doesn't stick to the side of the basin. Add about a third of the milk and mix it in, then add the rest. Beat the batter (I use a baloon whisk but an electric mixer works just as well) until there are no lumps but don't overdo it. Cover the basin and put it in the fridge for half an hour or so. Take a cake tray for 12 cakes and put a knob of lard (about ½ a teaspoon) in the bottom of each and put it in the top of a hot oven (gas 7) until the fat is smoking hot. Take the tray out and put it on a wooden board so it keeps hot and you don't damage your work surface and ladle batter to fill each compartment. (Be as quick as you safely can - it should sizzle as it goes in). Put it back in the oven for 20 -25 minutes or until it looks right. Use the rest of the batter to make pancakes for pudding.

What happened to all your new year resolutions concerning dieting. Forgotten, bad memory. Lets have some diet meals recipes now. Thanks

Anyone though of putting all these fantastic recipes into a book? I keep losing the thread! (along with the plot most of the time!) I'd buy a copy!

Dobbs I am working on it... I might pinch some from that upstart microwave thread too LOL

Cream and choc pud thingy Don't know what you would actually call it ..Just something I chucked together and everyone liked 1 carton double or whipping cream 1 large bar white choc white maltesers Whisk cream until stiff Melt choc and let cool for a while then add to cream add maltesers place in dishes and allow to set Reason all white stuff was that we once had a diet sent saying things of same colour had same cals value hence mushrooms were nil so therefore all above ingredients were nil.... I know we are mad but ......... A bit like an Eton Mess I suppose which is whipped cream , broken meringue and raspberries all mixed together and served in dishes Have done loads of varitions on this theme

A Yorkshire Pudding Recipe taken from A Yorkshire Cookery Book The Typical yorkshire pudding is made with water and milk to obtain lightness and crispness, and it is essential therefore that there is no fat in the mixture. 1 egg 4oz flour (plain) 1/4 pint milk 1/4 pint water 1 teaspoon salt Break egg into the flour and salt (previously mixed in a bowl).Add enough liquid to make a beating consistensy. Beat well.Leave to stand for 1/2 an hour Heat the oven to 450 f. For small puddings use a bun tray and add a nob of fat to each tin Place tray in oven until fat is smoking In meantime add rest of liquid to mix to make a batter Take tray out of oven place 2 tablespoons of batter in each tin and return to oven bake for 15 - 20 mins Can use a dripping tin and bake then cut into portions and serve. I have not actually used this recipe as I don't measure any ingredients I put in my puddings.. but I do add water .I just make batter till it looks right !!!

hello bob, just to let you know that i'm also a 'redditcher' and really enjoyed your recipes.