Welcome to the Cookery Calendar Challenge for September. If you are interested in joining me this month, please have a quick look at the Cookery Calendar Challenge page, which tells you everything you need to know.
My chosen recipe book this month was 'The Vicar's Wife Cookbook' by Elisa Beynon. Elisa's warm, chirpy personality shines through the introductions to the recipes, and the book has an endearing quality which means it will stay firmly on my kitchen shelf. I liked this book enormously, however August was an exceptionally busy month in our household, and I felt I rather rushed the selection of recipes and did not take the time to concentrate fully on the writing (though I hope to remedy that in the future) however the two recipes I chose were very successful.
The first was Shepherd's Pie (or Berger Lamb as Elisa called it). I didn't have particularly high hopes; how good can a shepherd's pie be, after all? Turns out it can be quite exceptionally delicious, according to the lamb-loving carnivores of the family, who ate theirs with gusto. I did remember to take a photograph, but at the time of writing I can't find it. If I do, I will insert it and edit this text accordingly.
My second dish was the charmingly named Butternut Buttercup Soup. I made this one evening when the carnivores were having something from the deep freeze (home made of course!) and I decided to use the time I would usually cook for them, to make myself something vegetarian friendly. This is a butternut soup, with the addition of roasted yellow (or orange) peppers, blended to a smooth consistency. There is the slight fiddle of blackening the peppers under the grill to aid removal of the skin, but I have done this many times before so this extra step didn't bother me. Elisa also finished off the soup with some crumbled goat's cheese. I used parmesan, as I no longer eat goat's cheese. I used always to enjoy it until one memorable day some years ago, when visiting a 'Pat-a-Pet' farm in Yorkshire with the boys, when they were small. As we approached a particularly baleful looking nanny goat, I became aware of a pungent aroma, and with a horrible stab of recognition, realised that goat's cheese smells exactly like goats (and vice versa). I have never eaten it since.
Overall, I liked this book very much, and am so glad I decided to use it for my cookery challenge this month. I wondered if Elisa had written any other cookery books, however, after a brief search on the internet, found that very sadly, Elisa had died suddenly at home in 2015. A bright and beautiful voice silenced for ever.
My chosen book for September is Stirring Slowly, by Georgina Hayden. This book is new to me, I have read through some of the recipes but not yet cooked from it. I am very excited by what I have seen so far and am looking forward to using it in September.
If you joined me last month, thank you. If you would like to join this month, or at any time in the future, this is what you need to know.
How it works:
The challenge is simple: the first week of every month, select a cookery book from your shelf, and cook two new recipes from it. The recipes can be for any meal. Cakes and bakes are excluded, but puddings are included. At the beginning of the following month, blog about the recipes you have used, and announce your chosen cookery book for the month ahead. This is an ongoing project, it's never too late to get involved, and everyone is very welcome.
I would appreciate a link back to this Cookery Calendar Challenge post in your post. Grab the Cookery Calendar Challenge badge to display on your blog too, if you like (just copy and paste the code on to your dashboard to display). You can also join via Instagram using hashtag #cookerycalendarchallenge (you will find me on Instagram @penny.homemadeheart ).
