Buying by numbers – some items are there to be bought singly; some to be part of a prescribed collection. It’s not something I notice until the pattern breaks.

At college I had a friend whose money management manqué would occasionally see him head off to a particular corner shop where life’s essentials – eggs, cigarettes – could like the unsuspecting wildebeest, be separated off from the normal herd of dozen or half, 10 or 20 and sold singly.

This weekend saw me break the ‘mato numinci code. I purchased just 2 tomatoes and was of a mind to make it 1.  I don’t think the transparent supermarket veg bag has ever been torn from the roll for so little cause. 1 or 2 to a bag – goldfish from the hoopla stand – yes, tomatoes – no.

The reason–Budgen’s anaemic offering at £3 per kg. I know tomato buying in the winter months is all about disappointment and high prices but these seemed to hit a new low/high. So I bought just 2; 180g @ 54 pence.

And yet they get to feature in The Tomato Sandwich. Brown bread ‘buttered’ with Hellman’s, grated cheddar and sliced tomato. Cut into Battenberg squares; served with a mug of tea on the side.

For today is the Swan Song for the Sunday Sandwich. I’ve enjoyed tasting what, within the confines of  our daily bread, I can pair with ‘team tomato’ but, like the returning, dust sprinkled, weary traveller, who concludes home is best, for me Cheese & Tomato is the ‘home fires burning’ of sandwiches.

So from next week instead of slicing, I’ll be stoking up and ‘cooking’ with tomatoes for a more substantial Sunday offering.

And of course, returning to purchasing my tomatoes in shoals.

Today’s sandwich is wholesome with a capital W.

Rye bread, lightly toasted, spread with curd cheese, topped with slices of avocado and tomato, lightly sprinkled with flaked almonds and popped under a gentle grill to warm through.

It’s messy to eat – messier even than a sugary, jammy doughnut but much, much more virtuous….

Sounds like a gossipy Sunday Scandal headline.

 But is in fact the fastest way I know to a flavour and texture hit.

Baguette torn open, Boursin smeared all over the doughy white bread, cherry tomatoes quartered and scattered, the crusty top pressed firmly down.

Mischief in moments but no aftermath…..

Valentine’s Day – Cheesy?

Very much so. A tangy cheddar lies beneath that waxy outer heart…..So today it’s back to first loves; the grated cheese and tomato sandwich of the school packed lunch box, followed by a Penguin biscuit.

Variety? – that came from the different colours of the Penguin wrappers.

A cheese and tomato toasted sandwich with hidden fires.

Butter the outside of the bread.
Spread the inside thinly with *Chipotle paste before layering with thin slices of cheddar and tomato.

Gently place into a ridged frying pan on the burner. Pop a lid on (helps with the melting of the cheese) . Cook for 5 minutes on each side.

Hear that toastie growl…..

* Smoke-dried jalapeno peppers

In ‘Delia through the Decades’, Delia Smith explained that when first making the Complete Cookery Course for the BBC it had to fulfil an educational remit. Which meant that Delia as a self taught, home cook had to go back to class.

She gave an example of a home economist explaining that the purpose of beating egg whites was to add air to them. And that the reason why you mustn’t over beat them and needed to fold them gently into whatever they’re being added to with a metal spoon is to ensure all those lovely bubbles don’t burst.

Well that was clearly a revelation to Delia at the time and was to me this time around!

Armed with this knowledge, Delia made Squidgy Chocolate Log which by all accounts has made a lot of people very happy ever since but doesn’t go very well with tomatoes. 

So I’ve made Welsh rarebit soufflé. Delia describes it as ‘rich golden brown, light and puffy’. I think that more than does it justice and it involves the very satisfying task of beating two egg whites into snowy stiff peakettes.

The addition of the tomato slices is unauthorised but fills me with little airy bubbles of happiness.

January this year has a different hue.

Broken? Did resolutions actually get made ?

Or did battling the elements seem a more worthy primordial endeavour than the struggle to say no to a Custard Cream ?

However if this light weight approach to January needs some puritanical ballast, today’s sandwich could be just the thing.

No shopping required – made instead from store cupboard lurkers with built in exercise and entertainment courtesy of the scouring session needed to remove the lentil layer from the base of the pan ( although that may just be me ).

• Cook red lentils as per instructions on the packet
• When ready add some butter, tomato puree, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mash together
• Spread on top of a wholemeal pitta with sliced tomato

Resolution never tasted so good.

It’s the 3rd Sunday in January and I’m roasting my 3rd chicken of the year.
And the 3rd chicken I’ve ever roasted. Yes – none – ever- and then a small flock.
If it’s trussed and oven ready, I have my giblet eye on it.

3 seems like a good number to stop at but I’ve got an extra large tub of chicken Bisto to get through so who knows…..

More immediate however than Bisto, which has decades of best beforeness, are cooked chicken left overs. Which as if they hadn’t suffered enough of it in their first incarnation, now require rustling up into something else.

My something of choice…. Coronation Chicken.

Which led me to wonder – what exactly goes into Coronation Chicken?

Having done my research, the thing I can say for sure is endless imagination.
In 1953 when served at the…yes, correct …. Coronation Lunch I’m sure it was a constrained assemble.
But a Golden Jubilee and a Brian May later, the lobbing in that goes on creates as random and assorted a dish as was ever encountered on the Trooping of the Colour Buckingham Palace balcony.

No subject of the realm should consider curry powder stirred into mayo acceptable but once that lowly point has been passed ….

So I started with Mayo, Crème Fraiche and Curry Paste mixed followed by the restrained lobbing of Mango Chutney, Sultanas, Flaked Almonds and Black Pepper

And then set it on a Nam throne, cushioned with regal tomato and cucumber layers.

Best served with beer, not sherry.

Named after one of Europe’s highest and yet as flat as The Fens – how can this be ?

Hot, stringy, cheese. It’s difficult to go up or down a snowy mountain, stop for lunch and not encounter the many guises of melted cheese .  And as the mountain seems to have come to us in terms of snow, it seemed the weather appropriate choice.

Heat up a frying pan. Still on the heat, place a soft tortilla on the base of the  pan and sprinkle with grated cheese and thinly sliced tomato. I used Cheddar but Gruyere or Emmental might be more fondue fancy. Pop another soft tortilla on top and leave for 2 minutes. Flip over with a spatula and warm through from the other side for a further 2 minutes.

Remove from the pan , cut into quarters, let the melty cheese and tomato dribble chinwards as you eat.

Don’t try this at home.

As a week of indulgence hovers I thought today would be perfect for a low key, simple sandwich, one which combines two of my favourite with bread things…..

Marmite – lovely on hot buttered toast .

Tomatoes – need no introduction.

Put together ?

It just didn’t work…….