Spring onions.........

Over the last few weeks I've been filling the pages of this blog with autumnal cooking. But this weekend I've had a taste of spring. My sister has been staying after spending the week back at home on Scilly and look what she bought me. The first daffs of the season. If you didn't already know Scilly has it's own micro climate which means we have early daffs as well as ripe juicy strawberries much earlier than our Cornish neighbours less than thirty miles away. And don't the flowers look pretty for a November afternoon?

I've still got armfuls of brown crispy onions happily sitting in the greenhouse waiting to be eaten. They are so patient. Unlike the apples currently holding me to ransom in my kitchen and the summer parsley which is starting to turn brown at the curls as an act of defience for my lack of interest recently.

But I ignored them. Today I had a craving for that sweet, sticky confit you get when slow cooking onions in butter.

Onion and fennel tart.....

8 small onions (although I should have used 10)
2oz butter
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 pkt puff pasry

Preheat the oven t 180'c. Chop up the onions into thin strips. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat and add the onions, vinegar and sugar. Cook slowly for about 30 mins or until a deep brown.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface. Slice a thin line around the edge (about 1 inch in). (Make sure you don't cut all the way through

Pop into the oven for 10 minutes. (If you want you can brush the edges with beaten egg.) Take out of the oven. Add the seeds into the onion mix and spread over the tart. (As you can see I could have done with more onions.) Pop back into the oven for 10 or 15 minutes until risen. Serve with watercress.

We had treacle pudding and custard after it!