A month later....back for good with some savoury cakes ideas

All very good going on holiday but...
no time for my blog the week before (too much work!), no time the week we came back (too much work!!), what a life hey.

Finally....a bit of spare time.

I have been browsing food forums last week end (catching up you know) and found a chat about savoury cakes on the BBC, and what a good idea they are.
I agree, they're easy and tasty and a good idea anyday. But a new kind of food? See, it's funny how simple things are differnt from one country to another. My mum used to make savoury cakes really often in summer for many years. Then, maybe they got a bit out of fashion? Or I forgot about them ....because I was living further, much further from home for a while (Not in a different world like a Time-Lord though, but still, all the way to Northern China).

Anyway, here are my 5 top reasons to give them a try:
They're the:
Leftover kings(ham, cheese, ....)
Pic nics maestro
A perfect nibble with a glass of wine
Office lunch with a difference
Little 5pm snack
and more....

Here are my favourite traditional recipes;
Cake aux olives et au jambon (olives and ham cake)
the traditional one

Cake aux courgettes et au thym (tyme and courgette cake)
the trendy one
both available on the BBC food forum there.

After reading so much about them in a short time, I could only but make one myself. Yes I had olives but was in experimental mood so attempted a
Cake aux poivrons rouges confits, chevre et basilic
(confit red peppers, goats cheese and fresh basil)

ingredients:
150g of plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
3 eggs
15 cl of warm milk
salt, pepper
100g of goats cheese
1 red pepper
1 large handful of fresh basil
2 generous tablespoons of olive oil

Mix the flour and baking powder together.
Add the beaten eggs, then the milk and mix well until you get a smooth batter.
In a frying pan, pour 1 tbspoon olive oil, then add the deseeded and chopped pepper.
Toss the pepper in the oil then cook very gently with a lid on for 15 minutes until very soft
Tear the basil leaves, drop in a mortar, add a pinch of salt and the remaining olive oil and reduce to a paste with the pestle (or wizz the ingredients together if you prefer)
Add the peppers and the basil oil to the batter then crumble the goats cheese in
Pour in a oiled and floured cake tin and bake at 180 degres for 50 minutes

Here' the result:

Admittedly something between a cake and a clafoutis in term of consistency but made a perfect tasty lunch...I thought. Hubby not convinced, tried and tagged as (I quote) "weird".

Oh well, next time will make a bacon and grated cheese one with a little more flour perhaps?

By the way, going back onto our holidays, if you ever go to the Tarn region in France, near somewhere called Cordes-sur-Ciel and fancy a room like that
,
with a breakfast like that
and a dinner like that
and that

and that