-COTTAGE CHEESE WITHApPLE AND CELERY

Whereas almost all kinds of fruit are delicious accompanied by cottage cheese (see page 117), only a few seem to me successful when mixed into it. One ofthese is apple, preferably with a stick of cele·ry. For 8 ozl250 g cheese, you will need '12 crisp apple (such as GrannySmith) and a small, innerstick of celery. Trim the leaf and root end of the celery, wash, dry and chop very finely. Wash the apple, remove the core and chop the flesh fairly finely. Add to the cheese with '13 teaspoon salt.

- COTTAGE CHEESEWITH HERBS

I have tried various herbs and combinations of herbs at different times and have to report what everyone already knew: that one of the very best ways of flavouring cottage cheese is with chives. You need more chives than you might thinkI heaped tablespoon (when chopped) for 8 ozl250 g cheese, which means quite a fat bunch. If the chives are bought rather than home-grown, pick them over, throwingaway any brownish or floppy leaves. Trim the ends, wash, blot dry with kitchen paper and chop very finely. Add to the cheese with a moderate sprinkling of pepper and V3 teaspoon salt. (Do not add garlic.)

In a different way, dill works equally well. For 8 ozl250 g cottage cheese, you will need I dessertspoon (when chopped), which means 5-6 fair-sized spears. Wash, blot dry with kitchen paper and pull the leaves (which are like filaments) from the main stems. Chop very finely and add to the cheese with seasoning as above.

COTTAGE CHEESE • WITH WALNUTS

Adding walnuts means adding fat, but the result is too good not to mention. The effect almost depends, however, on crisping the nuts: the best method is to bake them in the oven, but if this means heating it specially, you may prefer to use a saucepan. For baking, pre-heat the oven to 400°F, 200°C, Gas Mark 6. Cover a small baking-sheet with aluminium foil. For 8 ozl250 g cottage cheese, spread 2 ozl50 g walnut pieces over the foil and bakefor 5 minutes. To toastthe nuts in a saucepan, put them into a thick pan (dry-toasting will make it very hot) and set over high heat for I V2-2 minutes; shake constantly, since they bum very easily.

Allow to cool, chop roughly, then add to the cheese with V3 teaspoon salt and a moderate sprinkling of pepper. •

NUT BUTTERS·

The last thing I would wish is to discourage anyone from eating peanut butter - but still, everyone needs a change and other kinds of nut butter are less easy to buy and expensive. Unfortunately the cost of nuts justifies the price and means that the saving on making your own is inSignificant; also, without a grinder, you cannot achieve the creamy smoothness of the commercial product. The crushed, home-made versions, how- ever, really do taste infinitely better than the bought ones.

Of the kinds of nut I have tried (I excluded peanuts). I think that-by far the best butter is made with almonds; next come hazelnuts, which are pleasant alone but also very good with spice; walnuts give the smoothest result but are slightly bitter.

The butters will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator. Makes about 4 oz/125 g butter.

- INGREDIENTS-

3 '12 oz/l 00 g almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts

Salt

About 2-2'14 tablespoons sunffower or other light oil

Small baking-sheet

- METHOD -

1 Pre-heat the oven to 400°F, 200°C, Gas Mark 6. Line the baking-sheet with aluminium foil and spread the nuts over it. Bake walnuts for 6-8 minutes, hazelnuts for 10-12 minutes and almonds for 14-16 minutes or (in all cases) until the nuts are lightly browned.

2 Crush the roasted nuts as finely as possible. Add a generous pinch of salt to walnuts, a moderate pinch to hazelnuts and very little or none to almonds. Mix with the oil; if you want a fairly liquid result, you may need to add a little extra.

-SPICED HAZELNUT BUTTER-

- INGREDIENTS -

3 '12 ozll 00 g hazelnuts

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

Salt

2-2 '14 tablespoons sunflower oil

Small baking-sheet