Book Challenge #2 - Delia's Complete How to Cook

Leek and goat's cheese tart

So we move onto book #2 of the challenge! I think this challenge is going to take me a little longer than I had at first anticipated; so far it seems to take me three or four days to work up to actually making anything. I choose my book and recipe/project, and then think about it for a few days, before sitting myself down and having stern yet encouraging words! That said, I am relishing the challenge and I've already learnt SO much. 

I bought this book just at the start of my second year at university - I'd just moved from halls into a lovely little house with a little kitchen (in retrospect the kitchen was TOO little) and I was convinced this book would teach me how to cook and I'd be a proper little homemaker. Needless to say, the kitchen was always post-apocalyptic and I didn't use the book once. Until now!

There's a story to this one too. When I first met my boyfriend, four and a half years ago, I told him I was really good at making quiche. Truth was, I'd made one in Food Technology when I was in Year Eight. In my defence I do remember it turning out really quite well. So it transpired that I would make him a quiche for a picnic lunch. I got as far as trying to roll the pastry out and the tears of pure frustration began... I couldn't roll it out without it going into holes and sticking to my work surface, no matter how much flour I dusted it with! It wasn't so much dusted as absolutely coated, actually. The pastry went in the bin and for about four years I have lived with the constant teasing EVERYTIME someone so much as mentions quiche. It's been tough and there have been tears. So I really had something to prove this time.

Thankfully, Delia came through for me. I can't quite put into words quite how proud I am of this. After four years of quiche related bullying, I had assigned myself to the ranks of those who cannot make pastry. But look, look! I can! Turns out that the thirty minutes in the fridge is really quite crucial.. oops!

The goats cheese and leeks go SO well together - I love leeks with all my heart and goats cheese not so much, but I think the absolute leekiness of it cancels it out somewhat. Either way, it's entirely delicious and I would never have thought myself capable of creating such a masterpiece!

My only really tiny qualm with this book is the way its written. The instructions are just one big bulk of text, no numbers or bullet points or anything to separate it and make it more manageable. I almost found myself needing a highlighter while I was reading this recipe. Or a magnifying glass. An eye test, perhaps? I'm afraid I won't be writing the recipe out, it really is so long and I keep losing my place. I would seriously recommend this book though, it's full of food that normal people actually eat, as opposed to fussy, fiddly things that just aren't realistically achievable. 

I'm definitely going to use this book a lot more, I feel like I've 'discovered' it now. And now I know I can make pastry, I feel like the world is my oyster!

Happy Baking!