Usually called the doctor. Or the caretaker.

Tasty Tuesday, the May edition, featured:

Basic Italian Bread:

2 cups hottish water
about 5 tsp active dry yeast
about 1 1/2 tbs sugar
about 2 tsp salt
about 1/3 c olive oil
about 5 c white flour

Proof the yeast in the hot water with the sugar and the salt. Add the olive oil and the flour, stir, then knead in the remainder of the flour, set aside to rise. Bake in a 400° oven until done.

Cream of tomato soup

2 28oz cans whole tomatoes, liquid reserved
3 tbs turbinado sugar
4 tbs butter
4 large, pungent shallots, diced
generous pinch allspice
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs flour
about 2 c vegetable broth
1/2 c cream
splash of brandy

Split the tomatoes and scoop the seeds out with your fingers, over a bowl, catching and reserving the liquid. You're supposed to do this over a sieve but I didn't have one, so I just used the liquid as it came out. Lay the gutted tomatoes on a single layer on foil or parchment on a baking sheet with raised sides (e.g. jelly roll pan) and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake in the oven at 450° for about 30 minutes, then remove and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large pan and add the shallots, allspice, and tomato paste. When the shallots have cooked down, add the flour and whisk to form a roux. When the roux is made, add the broth, stirring or whisking steadily. Then add the reserved liquid and the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat until the mixture simmers and let it simmer until about 20 minutes before you need to feed people. Blend the soup with your immersion blender until smooth, add cream and stir, and right before serving, add a splash of brandy. This makes a lot of soup, but people will eat TONS. TONS, I say. When in doubt, double it.

Lemon cupcakes

This is a halved recipe so it makes about nine cupcakes.

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 lemon, zested
2 medium eggs
1/4 c cream
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
juice of the zested lemon

Zest lemon, add zest to sugar, shake up and let sit for a bit. Cream the butter and the zested sugar together, add the 2 eggs and mix. Add the cream, mix well. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, and then add slowly to the egg mixture. Add the juice of the lemon you zested. Spoon into cupcake cups and bake at 350° for about 15 minutes or until done.

Chocolate failcakes

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 oz bittersweet baking chocolate, melted and allowed to cool but not congeal
2 medium eggs
1/4 cup cream
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Make as for lemon cupcakes above, adding chocolate after the eggs but before the cream. Pour or ladle into cupcake cups and bake at 350° until they collapse, then remove and allow them to cool. They look awful but are delicious, particularly hot.

Cat's Brownie Recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 oz bittersweet baking chocolate, melted and allowed to cool but not congeal
splash of vanilla (optional)
4 medium eggs
1 cup flour

Cream butter and sugar, add melted chocolate and vanilla (optional), the eggs and then the flour. Spread into pan or spoon into cupcake cups and bake at 350° until a knife or toothpick thrust into the centre comes away clean.