All Rise - Fanny Cradocks Standing Ovation

Fanny Cradock is keen to point out that leftovers needn't just be everyday dishes thrown together, and sadly for me need not all be Deep Fried - they can also be showstoppers, easily fancied up to impress and give a sense of performance to the given occasion. New Year is traditionally a time in Scotland to get 'back tae auld claes and cauld porridge' but thankfully Fanny is having none of that and is dusting off that very favourite Ballgown. Everyday is performance day. For Fanny, the Master of Performance is of course Escoffier, and we are all urged to follow in his culinary footsteps. After all, this is the basis of the entire Cradock Cookery Programme. Before suggesting that you head off to study Escoffier's Guide to Modern Cookery (which Fanny notes has been translated into English for those less blessed linguistically than her) she also has a quick reminder to stick with her teachings in the weekly partwork, which really we have only just begun. Spend some time reading over the previous recipes (the basics) before we head into more ambitious creations as we soar up the Club Ladder. I'm a little (okay a lot) scared of heights, but I'm dizzy already at the thought of more ambitious dishes.

Fannys' favourite flashy feat is the soufflé. She performed it herself in front of thousands on 'tour' night after night and saw no reason for anyone to be frightened of it at home. Whether your audience was invited round your table, simply the family eating from the television trolley (we all have one, don't we? Must get one!) or even if you happened to be alone, all would be wow'd by a soufflé. Especially if you baked them in hollowed out tomatoes, of course.

To make the simple soufflé mix, melt some butter over a moderate heat, toss in some flour and beat until it forms a soft ball and leaves the sides of the pan. Still on the heat, add a quarter of your milk and ease it under the ball of roux with the aid of a wooden spoon. I can hear Fanny accentuating the word 'ease' and wrinkling her nose ever so slightly in emphasis. With the milk safely underneath, leave it until it bubbles, stir slowly and gradually increase your speed to beat it fiercely. It's time to think of that person you never really liked again. Add a third of your cheese (any leftover will do, but something strong is best, like Gruyère), season and another quarter of your milk. Beat vigorously and continue with additions until the mixture is thick and smooth.

The key to a well risen soufflé is of course the egg whites. Whip them up until they are really stiff, and fold them into the cheesy mixture gently. Fanny says if you are lucky and your egg whites are outstanding, which presumably you won't know until you get going, you may end up with more mixture than you need, so have some other containers at hand at all times. It's a dilemma however, as Fannys advice is to not prepare them as if not needed this will only be additional washing up. 

As soon as the mixture is fairly smooth, spoon it into your prepared tomatoes. This is not a phrase normally read in cookery books. They should be as large as you can find, with little lids sliced off the top and hollowed out. Fanny gives no suggestions on what to do with the insides, so this particular leftover dish creates more leftovers. Presumably we will need to wait for the more ambitious recipes. With tomatoes packed 'high' they need to be baked in a slightly cooler oven that 'normal' soufflés for slightly longer. Fanny points out this is not a mistake. Seemingly if the mixture rises too fast it may fall down the sides of the tomatoes. This wouldn't be the curtain call your audience were expecting. This would not impress Escoffier one little bit. Or Fanny. The final soufflés though certainly are impressive crowning glories, tasty, tall and theatrical. Standing proud, but light and fluffy inside. Well deserving of a thunderous round of applause before simply scoffing the Escoffier inspired beauties. And no nasty ramekins to wash up. Definitely deserving of an encore!

Any leftovers left over?

Everyone is considering 'healthy eating' options after the festive season, but not Fanny. Thankfully. Me neither, I want to eat glorious comfort food for quite some time yet. Fanny's more concerned about using up the last scraps of Christmas Fayre in tasty ways and dedicates the entire Part 15 of the partwork to 'Christmas Leftovers', or as the Belgians call them, 'l'art d'accomoder de reste'! According to Fanny, leftovers, like the poor, are always with us and what better place to start than with the cheese board. After all, so many of us have bent over backwards to give our families and friends an impressively cheesy selection on Christmas Day. However, Fanny suggests, our families are then lumbered with an accumulation of bits of cheese which get sadder and sadder as the days go by. I'm sad enough that the Christmas Tree has come down, I don't want sad cheese as well.

Before tackling some cheese recipes, Fanny takes a quick tour of the Christmas Buffet table to suggest, or rather remind us, of some leftover ideas. It's like a blog review of the year really. Fanny admits that it is not possible to predict, without being a clairvoyant, which of her glorious suggestions will remain to be transformed, so she gives some general advice. Any leftover meat, potatoes and bread can be transformed into Pitt-y-Panna, Poor Mans Pizza, Croques Monsieur or Torrijas. Any number of soups can be created with exciting winter vegetables left lurking about. Mincemeat can be transformed into a Soufflé with ease and speed. Potatoes easily fancied up, and anything sweet makes an omelette. Even, if like Fanny, you've made too lavish a fruit basket for Christmas Dinner, those stray pineapples can be frittered. So, no need for clairvoyance, just skip back through Fannys' recipes and all will be well.

Now that that is all clear, Fanny moves back to that poor old Cheese Board. What if you have some sad, neglected hard cheese lying about. What can you do to cheer it up? You can probably hear me shriek with delight as Fanny unveils her Fried Cheese. Yes, cheese, that's fried. In batter. Hurrah.

The batter is a new one on me, but you know, its not a time to hang on to old traditions. Just a couple of tablespoons of flour and an egg, separated. The yolk is beaten into the flour with a spoonful of very cold water and beaten and beaten until smooth but still very thick, with a little seasoning. Fannys only advice is that it should be too thick for a dipping and coating batter. But worry not, just before the frying begins it's transformed into a batter that IS suitable for dipping and coating by whipping up the egg white until its very stiff and blending the two. It looks like a lovely batter in the end, light and golden coloured.

Fanny says the cheese can be Gruyère, Emmental, plain old Cheddar or even processed cheese. Whichever looks the saddest on the cheese board I'd say. For me it's Cheddar. Fanny cuts her cheese into triangles, which seems very jolly indeed, so I do too. It's passed into the batter and slipped straight into hot, but not too hot, oil. This allows the cheese to soften inside by the time the batter has puffed up and has become golden brown. Fanny suggests arranging the triangles on a napkin covered dish and sprinkling with parsley and paprika before presenting it as in her picture. However the photographer didn't get the memo, it's quite a different picture that has appeared. So Fanny includes a side note that it can also be an 'alternative' presentation which I have recreated. The photographer was presumably fired. The fried cheese is gorgeous, I'm almost ashamed to admit. The batter is light and puffed just as Fanny said it would be, and the cheese soft and gooey. I must make sure that my cheese board always has some left over...