This week, we welcome Anneli from Delicieux to Foodies100 for our Ten at Ten slot. Anneli lives in South West France and blogs straight out of her farmhouse kitchen. Hugely passionate about Gascony, the area she lives in, she tries to honour and celebrate the cuisine and traditions of this humble, rural part of France. Rustic, hearty food made with seasonal local produce excites her and this is what’s at the very heart of Gascon cooking – and all of the recipes on her blog.

For her Ten at Ten, Anneli has chosen her favourite classic recipes with a twist…

anneli SAYS…

Living here in SW France, I find that I am surrounded by classic recipes all the time and I often blog my own versions. So I am drawn to fellow bloggers who take something tried and tested and make it their own. The classics are classics for a reason – because they are unquestionably great! But with a little imagination, a little tweak and a little twist, sometimes a classic can be turned on its head to produce something inspirational.

With that in mind, my Ten at Ten picks are all dishes that have a little fun with conventional recipes. These recipes are imaginative and clever, just like their makers…

I am going to kick off with samosa filling macaroni & cheese by Deena Kakaya. This is comfort food at its finest but she has cleverly added a myriad of spices and veggies to take a basic pasta classic and turn it into an aromatic, fortifying dish. This is one I have to try!

Equally classic and one we all no doubt make the same old way, day in and day out, has been rejuvenated here by Gourmet Mum with her chilli con cottage pie. It’s basically a chilli con carne topped with herby mash and she suggests serving it with a dollop of sour cream. Now doesn’t that sound lush?

Sticking with spices for now, I’m going to jump to this brilliant chilli pancake stack from Fab Food 4 All. I love to see savoury pancakes being made and this dish is ingenious. Coriander flavoured pancakes layered with chilli, topped with cheese and baked. C’mon people, you just know that’s gonna be good!

Moving on to steak & chorizo ragu by How To Cook Good Food. I think we are all guilty of rolling out a bog-standard Bolognese, if not often, than at least on occasion. So this recipe really caught my eye. Not only because it uses one of my favourite ingredients – chorizo – but also because it really is no more fuss than its more typical counterpart. Making the average into something fantastic!

I’m always happy to see something wonderful being created out of leftovers so this leftover roast beef & potato hash from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary made me very happy indeed. She has pepped up her hash with whole spices and fresh coriander, making a dish that you just want to gobble up.

There have been lots of pancake recipes posted this week, of course, but one that stood out for me was orchard pancakes with cider, caramelised apple, goats’ cheese & walnuts by Fuss Free Flavours. Just reading those ingredients made my mouth water! So much more exciting than a squeeze of lemon, no?

Now you can’t go wrong with a sausage supper and here with this Polish sausage & sauerkraut casserole with beer by Lavender & Lovage, you get something truly exciting. Cooked in a slow cooker making it even simpler, this dish is striking and utterly seductive. I seriously want to eat it.

I was very impressed by these veggie haggis & tattie pasties by Tinned Tomatoes. The idea of adding mashed potatoes and baked beans spoke directly to the child in me and I’m sure these little pastry pockets are utterly yummy. Such a clever take on a classic.

I had to include another inventive twist on pancakes, this time Welsh pancakes with leek, mushroom chocolate sauce by Chocolate Log Blog. I am always impressed by her creativity with chocolate and even more so when I see it used so enticingly in savoury dishes. Just check out the glorious fat pile of pancakes dripping with oozy sauce in her pictures and you will know what I mean.

And I thought I would round things off with a little night cap. peanut butter hot chocolate by Fish Fingers For Tea certainly made me want to grab a blanket and snuggle up for bed. Even a classic hot drink can be made into something decadent and creative with just a few  spoons of a little something extra.

Thank you for reading my Ten at Ten. I hope you found my picks as worthy as I did. You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. Keep on twistin’ those recipes!

Huge thanks to Anneli for this amazing selection of recipes – we feel inspired to start injecting a little something extra into our recipes now. Chicken noodle casserole for dinner, anyone?