potatoes and swiss chard

This recipe is one that I can confidently say that I created. I first made it many years ago when I used to get a box of organic fruit and vegetables delivered to our home. In those days, organic was fairly "new" and it was the only way I could get organic milk for my children as it wasn't sold in grocery stores.

In the winter months, the vegetables consisted of root vegetables and lots of kale and Swiss chard. So I devised this recipe to use up the chard. Because it has bacon/ham in it, it can be eaten on its own, but last night I made it as a side dish to go with the stuffed pork tenderloin that my mother made for dinner. The cream cheese makes a rich and easy sauce.

Potatoes and Swiss Chard

1 onion, chopped fine

6 slices smoked ham cut up into small bits OR 6 slices of side bacon

2 tablespoons olive oil (if you are using bacon, you made not need this)

1 bunch organic red Swiss chard

4 to 5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

5 tablespoons green onion cream cheese

* Fry the onion and the ham (in oil) or bacon (no oil) in a large frying pan on medium heat. Wash the Swiss chard and then cut the stalks from the leaves. Take the stalks and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces and add them into the fry pan. Add the potatoes and place the lid on top. Leave for about 10 minutes. Remove the cover, give it a stir and recover for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile cut up the chard leaves into 1 inch wide ribbons crosswise. Add the cream cheese to the potato mix and keep stirring until it has "melted" into a sauce. Pile the chard leaf pieces in a layer over the top of the mix and cover for about 10 minutes. When you remove the cover the chard will have wilted and you can mix it in. Season with salt and pepper.

Pecan Toffee Cake

Over the holidays I made this cake twice it was so good. The first one was to give to my Dad for Christmas because he really likes dates. The second was to slice and wrap up and give to my friends as gifts.

One of my secret treats is to buy British food and decorating magazines. This recipe comes from the December edition of BBC Good Food. I initally chose it because I had a container of dates leftover from celebrating the Iranian holiday Shab-e-Yalda with my class.

This cake is tender and absolutely delicious. For the sugar, I used the spiced sugar recipe from Jamie Oliver's website (http://www.jamieoliver.com/ - worth checking out and delicious in tea). I made it the first time with walnuts because I had those in the cupboard. The second time I used pecans (as in the photo). Pecans or walnuts this cake is definitely a keeper!

Pecan Toffee Cake (December 2008 BBC Good Food)

300g pecans or walnuts

140 g dates

200g butter, softened

200g sugar (or use Jamie Oliver's recipe for spiced sugar - see above)

1 tsp mixed spice

4 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

140g self-raising flour (I used all-purpose flour and 1 tsp baking powder)

maple syrup

* Put 100g of the nuts into a processor and whiz up until fine and put into a small bowl. Put the dates in a saucepan and add enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, discarding the liquid. Let cool and liquify in the processor.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and line with buttered wax paper a 10" springform cake pan. Beat together the butter and sugar then add in the dates, ground nuts, spice, eggs and salt. Then fold in the flour and baking powder. Put the leftover 200g of nuts over the top being careful not to push them down. Bake for 40 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, lightly pour maple syrup over top of the hot cake.

This cake freezes well. I wrap one quarter pieces of the cake in wax paper then in foil.