Daleks at Proms, Arthritis.

For those of you who are Dr. Who fans, apparently there was a section at the Proms (held in the Royal Albert Hall in London) which included the Dalek symphony together with a Dalek on stage. Fun I thought, sorry I didn’t see the actual programme.
Bowling again yesterday, I now have a new problem, some of you may remember I had an extremely bad left shoulder a year or so ago, now I am developing a painful right shoulder, so I can blame that on my lousy bowling, right? Saw a bit of a programme on TV about arthritis and natural cures, mostly pushing the books written by the doctor I think, but there was some interesting stuff including the importance of diet and exercise. The doctor said, if you can’t do much at all, go to therapy in a pool and progress from there. He suggests walking half an hour a day which is what I am beginning to do on my treadmill. He also said 2,000 calories of the right foods will get you to lose weight. I stick to about 1,200 at the moment so I should look into this more carefully. I wonder if our library have his books, Dr. Vijay Vad was the name of the doctor.
I persuaded another friend to get some asparagus from Barrie’s, well actually I got it for him. I will be interested in what he says. I couldn’t get him to try it raw, think he thought I was having him on.


Asparagus, Goat’s Cheese and Smoked Bacon Quiche
British Asparagus – Marcus Bean

"One of my favourite foods is warm quiche, the crumbliness of the pastry the soft texture of the eggy centre, combined with smoky bacon and fresh asparagus, serve simply with buttered potatoes & salad."
Serves: 8

You'll need:
Pastry; or buy readymade short crust pastry
250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter (room temp)
1 egg
2 tbsp water

For the filling:

2 rashers of thick smoked back bacon (finely chopped)
100g of goat’s cheese
300ml double cream
200ml of milk
4 medium eggs
Salt & pepper
6 sprigs of asparagus
30g butter
2 tbsp grated parmesan

What to do:

1

Start by making the pastry; sift your flour into a large bowl, then rub in the butter with your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix the egg, then add to the flour and bring together with your hands, add the water and knead on a cold floured surface until fully mixed. Then cling film and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

2

Next remove your pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured work surface until it’s an even thickness of about ½ - 1cm. Get your loose bottomed tart case (20cm diameter by 3-4cm deep. Grease the tart case with butter then line it with your pastry making sure you press into the edges of the tart case all the way round (use a 2cm ball of pastry to do this to stop from piercing the pastry). Prick all over the pastry base with a fork, to release trapped air and stop the pastry from rising.

3

Now line the pastry case with parchment paper, fill it with baking beans or rice. Then place onto a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 190°c, then remove the beans and the paper from the case, brush the pastry with a little milk or egg wash, then pop back in the oven at 180°c for 10 more minutes until golden, remove from oven and set aside.

4

For the filling melt the butter in a pan and add the diced smoked bacon, fry until golden brown and cooked, then set aside. Now get your asparagus spears trim of the hard root, cut them length ways then add to a hot griddle pan with a little oil & cook until charred. Spoon the bacon mixture into the cooked pastry case, add the asparagus and crumble the goat’s cheese on top. Make your mix up by adding the cream & milk to a jug adding the eggs and whisking together, add a little salt and pepper to season.

5

Then pour the mix into the pastry case, don’t worry if you have some mix left over. Sprinkle the top with the grated Parmesan and bake the tart in the oven at 180°c for about 20-30 minutes until the filling is golden and the mix is set.

To serve:

Slice a good size piece of quiche and put onto your plate, serve with fresh watercress.
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Have a great day