An apology followed by a summer of Kitchen-based experimentation.

Well I feel that first I must offer an apology-come-explanation for the total absence of culinary ramblings over the last two months.  Holidays, graduation, life and flat hunting have consumed more of me than I have succeeded in consuming yummy treats.  However whilst many of these things still rumble on, I can take it no longer and have succumbed to a near full immersion into the twists and turns of the kitchen.

Order of the day presently is to practice as many random different things as I can bring myself to try in  an attempt to adjust more easily to life as a chef in training.  However this has begun with the somewhat underwhelming realisation that not only do I rarely use the oven (being more naturally a hob-top cook) but that I had in fact only baked potatoes on one previous occasion.  Therefore to rectify such an embarrassing reality for a prospective cookery school student, this first summer edition will record a baked potato recipe, which bravely seeks to revive the humble and often maligned topping, cottage cheese.

Get your jacket on!

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 x baking potatoes, washed, scrubbed and rubbed with salt

1 standard tub of plain cottage cheese

A handful of parsley, finely chopped

The juice of half a lemon (although add to taste)

1 spring onion finely sliced

1 tomato, finely chopped

1/2 red chilli finely diced

Salt and Pepper to taste

A knob of butter for each potato (really makes the difference!)

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 4-5.  Prick each of the potatoes all over with a fork and then place on a baking tray.  Bake for about 45minutes -1 hour, or until cooked through, soft in the middle and the skins crispy.

2) Meanwhile tip the cottage cheese into a bowl, add the chopped parsley and lemon juice, and season. The cheesy filling is done.

3) Mix the tomato and chilli together, add a little salt to taste.  This little salsa will finish the potatoes.

4) Once the potatoes are cooked, remove from the oven and set on each serving plate.  Cut a cross across the top of the potato and pinch between the cuts until it puckers up and reveals the fluffy flesh inside.  Pop the butter into each potato top and then add a tablespoonful or two of the cheesy filling and top with a teaspoon of the tomatoey salsa.

Serve with a little side salad and enjoy.  The lemon and parsley make the humble cottage cheese a light and refreshing summer topping for the cheap and wonderfully cheerful baked potato.  Give it a try, I don't like cottage cheese and I loved it.  Healthy too!