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CROISSANTS, ROLLS & SWEET IDEAS

SPEEDY GARLIC BREAD

Although garlic bread is usually made in the oven, you can speed things up by using the grill instead.

Cheese and Garlic Bread makes a nice variation: simply put slivers of cheese (such as Gruyère) on the garlic bread before grilling it; or try herb bread, using 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley and chives instead of, or as well as, the garlic.

¹/₂ French stick or 2 crusty rolls, white or wholewheat

2 garlic cloves, crushed

50g / 2oz butter, softened

Heat the grill. Cut the French stick on the diagonal into slices about 2.5cm/1 inch thick, or cut the rolls in half.

Mix together the garlic and butter then spread this over the cut surfaces of the bread.

Grill the bread until hot and sizzling on one side, then turn it over to heat the other side. Serve immediately, or cover with foil and keep warm.

SERVES 2

CREAMY ASPARAGUS CROISSANTS

This delicious snack for one is rather like a cheat’s version of feuilleté of asparagus in cream.

125–225g / 4–8oz asparagus spears

15g / ¹/₂ oz butter

1¹/₂ tsp cornflour

150ml / 5fl oz single cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

2 croissants

Trim the asparagus as necessary and cut it into 2.5cm/1 inch lengths. Keep the tips separate from the stems.

Cook the chopped stems in 2.5cm/1 inch of boiling water for 2 minutes, then add the tips and cook for a further 2 minutes, until they are beginning to get tender but are still crunchy. Drain.

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the cornflour. Add the cream and stir over a moderate heat until it comes to the boil and thickens. Cook for 1–2 minutes then remove from the heat and stir in the asparagus. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Slice the croissant horizontally in half. Grill on both sides until crisp and lightly browned.

Serve the croissant halves with the asparagus, sandwiching them together with the mixture if you like, and letting the excess run on to the plate.

SERVES 2

GARLIC MUSHROOM ROLL

175g / 6oz button mushrooms

15g / ¹/₂ oz butter

1 tsp olive oil

1–2 garlic cloves, crushed

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 high, rounded, crusty roll, white or granary

Wash and roughly chop the mushrooms, then fry them in the butter and olive oil for 5 minutes or until they are tender. If they give off a lot of liquid, go on cooking them until this has evaporated; this may take as long as 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat the grill. Slice the top off the roll to make a lid; scoop out and discard most of the crumb. Warm through the roll and lid under the grill, turning it.

Spoon the mushrooms into the roll and replace the lid. Serve at once.

SERVES 1

CHUTNEY BEAN BURGER

Use whatever chutney or pickle you like in this; you could also add extras such as grated cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, sliced tomato and lettuce to make a kind of burger with everything.

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 tbls olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 × 225g / 8oz can butter beans, drained

1–2 tbls chutney or pickle

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 soft burger roll

Fry the onion in the olive oil, with a lid on the pan, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1–2 minutes longer.

Add the beans to the pan and cook gently for about 5 minutes, until heated through, mashing the beans to make a rough puree. Stir in the chutney or pickle and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the grill. Cut the burger roll in half and warm it through under the grill, then pile the bean mixture on one half, top with the other half, press down and serve immediately.

SERVES 1

BRIOCHE WITH VACHERIN AND APRICOT CONSERVE

An indulgent breakfast, brunch or pudding.

1 individual brioche

125g / 4oz Vacherin cheese

1–2 tbls best-quality apricot conserve

Warm the brioche in the oven or under the grill, then serve with the Vacherin cheese and apricot conserve.

SERVES 1

GINGER AND CREAM CHEESE BAGELS

125g / 4oz cream cheese, full fat or low fat

2 pieces of preserved stem ginger

6 walnut halves

a little milk (optional)

2 bagels

Put the cream cheese into a bowl. Chop the ginger and walnuts and heat into the cream cheese, adding a little milk it necessary to soften it.

Cut the bagels in half, spread with the filling

and sandwich together.

SERVES 2

BAGELS WITH CHOPPED-HERRING-WITHOUT-HERRING

This filling is a piquant and intriguing relish from New Food For All Palates by Sally and Lucian Berg. It also makes a good topping for crostini or bruschetta.

25g / 1oz white bread, crusts removed

7 tsp white wine vinegar

2 eggs, hard-boiled

40g / 1¹/₂oz mild onion

25g / 1oz green pepper

25g / 1oz peeled sharp apple

1 rounded tsp sea salt

4 tsp olive oil

white pepper

2 bagels

Tear the bread into pieces, put these into a bowl and sprinkle with the vinegar.

Shell the eggs, chop them roughly and put them into a food processor with the onion, green pepper and apple, also in rough chunks. Add the bread, salt and oil and whizz to a chunky puree. Season, adding some while pepper to taste.

Cut the bagels in half, spread the filling over them and sandwich together.

SERVES 2

PANETTONE WITH FRESH FIGS

This makes a good quick festive pudding. Other fruits such as Clementines, peeled and sliced, could be substituted for the figs, or instead of the fresh fruit you could use fruits preserved in alcohol.

6–8 fresh figs

4 slices of panettone

1 tub of thick Creek yogurt

a few flaked almonds

Wash and slice the figs, then arrange them on individual plates with a slice of panettone, a good dollop of Greek yogurt and a few flaked almonds.

SERVES 4

CINNAMON TOAST WITH HONEYED APPLES

Rather like an apple charlotte, this is a pleasant combination of crisp, sugary cinnamon toast and buttery apple slices. The recipe also works well with pears instead of apples, and white bread rather than brown. Some chilled thick yogurt or pouring cream makes a good accompaniment.

2 sweet, mellow eating apples, such as Cox’s

butter

2 tbls honey

2–4 slices of white bread

2–4 tbls demerara sugar

ground cinnamon

Peel the apples, cut them into quarters, remove the cores, then cut each quarter into thin slices.

Heat a little butter in a saucepan and add the apples and honey. Cook, uncovered, over a gentle heat, until the apple slices have softened, about 3–4 minutes, stirring gently from time to time.

Meanwhile, make the cinnamon toast: toast the bread on both sides – don’t get it too brown and crisp. Remove the crusts if you like, then butter the toast. Cover each slice evenly with demerara sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Put the toast under the grill for 1–2 minutes until the sugar has melted a hit to make a crisp coating. Cut into fingers or triangles.

Spoon the apple slices on to a small plate and arrange the cinnamon toast around them.

SERVES 2

CROISSANT WITH CREAM AND BLACK CHERRY CONSERVE

Unless a croissant is superb in flavour and texture, I think that halving and grilling it is by far the nicest way to serve it – either with butter or with a sweet or savoury filling. Here, a combination of three of my favourite foods makes an indulgent occasional treat.

1 croissant

1–2 tbls black cherry conserve

1–2 tbls thick double cream, crème fraîche or soured cream

a little icing sugar (optional)

Slice the croissant in half horizontally. Grill on both sides until crisp and lightly browned.

Spread the bottom half with black cherry conserve, cover with the cream, then replace the top half of the croissant.

Sift a little icing sugar over, if you like.

SERVES 1

(left) Panettone with Fresh Figs, (top) Croissant with Cream and Black Cherry Conserve, (right) Cinnamon Toast with Honeyed Apples