Vittles (food & drink

Lizzie Crow – AKA Lizzie Baking Bird – is a self taught baker, who has a stall outside her home in Upwey each Saturday. See her scrumptious eats at lizziebakingbird.co.uk or find lizzibakingbird on Instagram.

Formidable! Tasty ham and cheese croissants

Now this is a bit of a family favourite. It is a lovely recipe that you can do for breakfast. It is particularly child friendly, so you can make it with your young ‘uns and enjoy it together! If you’re a vegetarian you can replace the ham with mushrooms – or you can go crazy with ham and mushrooms.

Ham and Cheddar croissants Serves four Should you have leftover croissants on hand, use them up. If not, pop out and buy some – these will be well worth it.

Four croissants 40 g butter (or margarine) 40 g flour 290ml milk 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard Salt & pepper 125 g strong white cheddar plus 20g extra for topping. Ham, sliced or shredded (or mushrooms, sliced and fried)

Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes whilst stirring. The flour and butter will come together and form a paste that needs to be cooked to get rid of the taste of raw flour. Pour in about a quarter of the milk. Allow it to bubble a little and then whisk like crazy. Repeat this until all the milk is used up, whisking well so that the sauce isn’t lumpy. Stir in the cheese, mustard and a good crack of pepper and take the pan off the heat. The cheese will melt so give it a good whisk and see if it needs salt. Allow to cool. You can make this the day before and pop it in the fridge until you want to use it. Heat the oven to Gas mark 6/ 200C. Once the sauce is cool or cold, slice the croissants in half lengthways (you will probably want to do this if your nippers are wee). Lay the halves on a baking tray. Spread sauce over each of the halves (8) and reserve a little for the top. Lay on a thick slice of ham (or much or as little shredded ham as you like). Close the croissants to give four servings. Spread the remaining sauce over each croissant and sprinkle with the extra cheese. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve them as is or, if you are having these for lunch rather than breakfast, accompany with a green salad and tomatoes.

n Lizzie is at The Old Ship Inn in Upwey on a Saturday morning. Find out what she’s up to at lizziebakingbird.co.uk

WINES BY THE GLASS, BOTTLE OR CASE

Elegant & relaxed spaces to buy and enjoy wine. Or come for an evening tasting hosted by our experts.

TUE - SAT 10-6 BRIDPORT 35 South St DT63NY DORCHESTER 1 Pope St DT1 1GW morrishandbanham.com

Vittles (food & drink)

Karen Broad lives in Burton Bradstock, with her husband and two mad dogs. She ran The Mousetrap in Dorchester, has lived in France and loves discovering new food producers. Take a tip from me: Enjoy asparagus

Driving up the narrow track which leads to Bothen Hill, it is hard to believe that you are less than a mile from the centre of Bridport. The song of a skylark hovering over the open farmland, welcomes you, around you the fertile green sloping hills, provides the perfect backdrop. It is a bright, chilly Spring afternoon, with just a glimpse of a watery sunshine. You can smell the sea, perfect saline soil for growing a very ‘regal’ crop. It is April and time for harvesting asparagus! Bothen Hill is a modest bustle of activity. One thing that strikes you is the vast array of verdant green vegetables, standing by a box of freshly picked leeks the scent is so heady my mouth begins to water. Chip and Anita De Greeff simply burst with pride having achieved the status of West Dorset Largest Organic vegetable grower. But, despite the plethora of vegetables on show, it is the asparagus that is their ‘showpiece’. Anita explains the complexities of growing asparagus. Grown from ‘crowns’ it is not an instant harvest, and it can take three years before you start picking. Once established, it can continue for 15 years. Hard work and passion evident, they explain they began in 2001 with just 200 crowns on their 30acre site. Currently they devote five acres of their site to growing 40,000 crowns as well as a staggering 150 varieties of vegetables. It is well worth a visit, and you can buy vegetables from the farm gate. This trifid ‘look alike’ is an aristocratic little vegetable packing a wealth of health benefits, though it is also known for its aphrodisiac qualities. Asparagus has huge versatility, it ideal to steam, roast, sauté, wrap in bacon, make soups, add to pasta, or rice, or just have it with a dippy egg! Simple is best. Avoid boiling as the flavour ends up in the water, it is best just to blanch for two minutes, drizzle with olive oil and lemon. Without a doubt it is a ‘Jewel in the crown’.

FLAN-TASTIC: Asparagus and Pancetta flan and, right, Dorset Asparagus

Mum’s Kitchen...

Chocolate Rum Cake This gloriously rich cake is easy to prepare and makes a wonderful dessert to end a special meal. It is gluten-free, and serves 810

Ingredients: 300ml dark rum 150g pitted prunes 200g butter, chopped 200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, chopped 200g caster sugar 200g cooked whole chestnuts or chestnut puree 3 large eggs, separated

Method: Preheat the oven to 160C, 140C fan. Line a greased 20cm loose-bottomed tin with baking paper. Place the rum and prunes in a pan, bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool for 15 minutes. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, or melt on a low heat in the microwave if you are confident with this method. Cool a little. Place butter, sugar, chestnuts, egg yolks and prunes and rum into a food processor and whizz until it is smooth and creamy. Add the melted and cooled chocolate and whizz again until evenly combined. Scrape into a mixing bowl. Whisk egg whites in a clean dry bowl until stiff, but not too firm. Beat one third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen, then gently fold in the rest. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and smoothe the top. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hr 15 minutes. The cake should be dry and firm on top and coming away from the edges of the tin. Cool completely. Serve with cream or crème fraiche.

Vittles (food & drink)

Asparagus and Pancetta flan Cheat and buy short crust pastry Roll out and place pastry into a flan dish. Blanch asparagus Beat five eggs with some cream and sprinkle in some grated cheese Pan fry the Pancetta and place into pastry case Pour egg mix over Carefully arrange Asparagus on the top and bake until golden brown.

with Diana Holman