Foulkes Family Cook Book

180g bacon 1tsp chili flakes 180 rolled oats 1tsp red wine vinegar 90g sugar 180g butter 1 egg 180g plain flour Chop the bacon Fry with the chili flakes Stir in the oatmeal and fry for another 5 minutes Cream the butter and sugar, then add the egg and flour add the bacon and oatmeal Deglaze the bacon pan with the vinegar and add to the mix  Roll into a sausage and cut into cookie size pieces Bake for 10 mins at 180C

This was the cake Nonna always made to give visitors to take home. It’s a speciality of Lodi, a beautiful old town in Lombardy, on the banks of the river Adda, south of Milan. The cake itself is a crunchy, buttery, almondy shortcake, that is served broken into chunks – never sliced – it’s too crumbly to slice. It is sold in all the good pasticcerie in Lodi, and nowhere else. There are various recipes. Here is my version, followed with a more standard recipe. Tortionata or Torta di Lodi My version 150g white flour 150g butter 150g sugar 150g whole unpeeled almonds 1 egg yolk Warm the butter to room temperature. Chop the almonds, without removing their skins. Toast the almonds in a frying pan with a knob of butter until lightly coloured. Mix the almonds, butter, sugar, egg and flour to form a loose dough.  Press into an 25cm cake tin.  With the back of a fork, form a pretty pattern on the cake.  Bake at 150°C for 30 minutes or until lightly coloured To...