cracker crumbs


Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Lightly butter a casserole large enough to hold your ingredients. Mine holds about 4 cups.


Select and prepare the ingredients of your choice.  Place the protein, starch, and veg in a large bowl and mix together.  Mix together the sauce, flavour ingredients and herbs which you are using in another measure.  Fold this into the protein mixture and then spread the mixture into the prepared casserole.  Sprinkle with the topping.


Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, covered.  Uncover and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until bubbling and heated through.


This is very easy to multiply up.


Note:  Today I used diced ham,  green beans, mushrooms, swede, potato, onions, celery, creamed corn, thyme and parsley.  I topped with cheddar and cracker crumbs.  It was delicious!



I hope you are getting really excited now at that refrigerator full of leftovers and that the wheels are turning.  What will you make?   I would love to hear the combinations you come up with!  Shoot me a comment below and share with us what you have done.  

(The kitchen in my doll house)

Moving onto the second part of my collection of  recipes which you should know by heart.  I know that a lot of us already know these things off by heart and indeed have our own ways of doing most things, but the beginning cook might not know these things and I felt this could be an invaluable resource for them.  

Whilst may of us older guys and gals probably learned these things from our mum's and grandmum's  . . .  the art of cooking from scratch seems to be disappearing these days.   People do rely a lot on convenience foods.  Heck you can even buy frozen mashed potatoes today, which is surely a lot better tasting than dried potato flakes . . .  but when mashed potatoes are so easy to make . . .  why not make your own.   

I know . . . for the working mum, frozen might be more convenient and I can't say that I blame them for using them . . .  but if you are so inclined and have the time to want to do things from scratch, these are the recipes you should know by heart.  You can find Part one  here.



There is nothing nicer on a plate then a perfect pile of soft, creamy and fluffy mashed potatoes. They go so well with many dishes and are the perfect holder to cradle lashings of delicious gravy.

They are not as hard to make as some people would suppose. Simple and straightforward, as long as you follow a few simple rules.

• use the proper potato. You want a floury type of potato, that is to say one that breaks down well once cooked. You do not want a waxy type of potato, or one that holds it's shape well when cooked. Some great examples of floury potatoes are Maris Piper, Estima, King Edward or Desiree (In North America use a Russet, Idaho or baking potato)
• Do not make the mistake of not cooking the potatoes long enough. Better to err on the side of overcooking than undercooking. You cannot mash a hard lump no matter how hard you try!
• Never add cold butter or milk to cooked potatoes. Always use room temperature or melted butter and gently warmed milk or cream
• Add any liquid to the cooked potatoes slowly. Some days you may need more, some days you may need less. How much can only be determined by adding it slowly.  

 

*Perfect Mashed Potatoes*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Simple and perfect!

2 pounds of large floury potatoes (In the UK a Maris Piper is ideal, in North America
I would use a russet or idaho)
4 ounces unsalted butter (1/2 cup, or one stick)
4 fluid ounces of single cream or full fat milk (1/2 cup) gently warmed
fine seasalt, freshly ground pepper and freshly grated nutmeg

Peel and quarter the potatoes then place the potatoes into a pot of lightly salted water to cover.  Bring to the boil and cook for 20 to 25 minutes until fork tender.  Drain well in a colander and then return them to the hot pot.  Cover with the lid and give them a good shake, which will help to break them up.  Add the butter and warmed cream or milk, adding the latter a little at a time, whilst mashing the potatoes, only adding as much as is needed to give you the correct consistency.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  The potatoes should be light, fluffy, creamy and  ready to eat.

Note - I often use my electric handwhisk to mash the potatoes.  This helps to insure a smooth mixture without lumps.  I also have a potato ricer, which does a fabulous lump free job. 

Cream Sauce, or  Bechamel (which is the French name for basically the same thing) is the most basic of sauces and the basis for many other sauces such as  cheese sauce, mornay sauce, lemon sauce etc.   Once you have mastered a good cream sauce you are free to explore the many other options available.  I often make it and add cooked baby peas to it and serve it ladled over cooked fish.   It's the basis for macaroni and cheese, and many other delicious dishes, and very easy to make.  These are the quantities for one cup of sauce, to make more just multiply the ingedients.  I normally would not more than double it.

Mornay Sauce - Add 2 TBS of grated Parmesan Cheese and 2 TBS of grated Swiss cheese during the last two minutes of cooking.  Stur until blended.  Just before removing from the heat, beat 2 TBS of the sauce into 1 lightly beaten egg yolk.  Stir the yolk/sauce mixture back into the sauce and add 2 TBS butter.    Continue to cook, stirring, for one minute longer.



There is nothing nicer than a nice plate of warm biscuits,  North American Style (similar to scones) resh from the oven and just waiting for you to spread them with a pat of cold butter and a drizzle of honey.   

These are one of the most basic of the quick breads and I have never known anyone to turn a well made biscuit down.   The important thing to remember about biscuits is to use a light touch with them.   Over working them toughens them.   

Pat them out gently and cut them out with a sharp cutter, using a very sharp quick straight up and down motion and your biscuits will always be perfect!




*Baking Powder Biscuits*
Makes 16
Printable Recipe


Golden brown and crusty outside, meltingly tender inside.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 TBS sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup of  milk


Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 6.  Grease two 8 inch cake tins. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together in a bowl.  Drop in the shortening and cut it into the flour mixture with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the milk all at once and stur just until the dough forms a ball around the fork.  Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead about 14 times.  Pat out to 1/2 inch thickness.  Stamp out rounds with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, giving it a sharp tap straight down and up again.  Do not twist.  Place touching each other in the cake pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

If you like biscuits with crusty edges all around, place them 1 inch apart on a baking sheet to bake instead.

Blueberry pancakes - Add a handful of fresh berries to the batter.



There is no more welcome or finer dessert cake than the traditional sponge cake, or Victoria Sponge as it is lovingly called over here in the UK.  It needs no more adornment than a dusting over the top with some confectioner's/Icing sugar and a filling of butter cream and jam.  Using equal amounts of butter, sugar, eggs and flour, it is the simplest of cakes, and yet also the tastiest.

 


*Traditional Victoria Sandwich Cake*
 Makes one 7 inch cake
Printable Recipe  


Popular during the reign of Queen Victoria, this cake remains popular to this day, which is a huge testament to it's taste and ease of baking!  Don't be tempted to use all butter.  This is one recipe that is better for the use of a mixture of butter and margarine.

3 ounces of butter, softened (6 TBS)
3 ounces soft margarine (6 TBS)
6 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, beaten
6 ounces self raising flour (a scant 1 1/2 cups)

To finish:
3 TBS raspberry jam
buttercream to fill (optional)
icing sugar or caster sugar to dust the top


Butter and base line two 7 inch sandwich tins.  Set aside.  Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.

Cream the butter, margarine, sugar and vanilla together until light in colour and fluffy.  Gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.  If the mixture begins to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.

Fold in the flour with a metal spoon, taking care to use a cutting motion so as not to knock out too much of the air that you have beaten into the batter.  Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins, leveling off the surface.  Make a slight dip in the centre of each.

Bake on a centre rack of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sponges have risen well, are golden brown, and spring back when lightly touched.  Allow to cool in the pan for five minutes before running a knife carefully around the edges and turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, place one layer on a cake plate. Spread with raspberry jam and buttercream (if using).  Place the other cake on top, pressing down lightly.  Dust with icing or caster sugar and serve.


I will be back tomorrow with a new and fresh recipe.  I hope you have enjoyed these tried and true recipes and that you have found them useful.  It's a start at any rate!

(My tiny kitchen)

I think I first fell in love with food and cooking when I was a very young girl.  My grandmother used to make exceptional soups, stews, preserves, roasts, breads, cakes, cookies and preserves . . . simple food, well prepared, using fresh ingredients or just whatever was in the larder.  I don't think she had a cookery book collection.  At best she might have had a community cookbook filled with recipes collected from the ladies in the community, or hand written recipe receipts given to her from friends . . .  possibly a cookbook put out by the flour companies.  For the most part she cooked from memory . . .  doing things the way her mother had taught her . . .  cooking by instinct, feel . . .  taste.

Things were simple then and there weren't really many unknown, unusual, or luxury ingredients available.  These days we are so blessed to have virtually a world of food and tastes at our fingertips.  Even so, there are some dishes which we should really know how to do from heart, without a recipe.  Oh . . .  yes, we can follow a recipe the first time we make them, but with time and experience, these are the recipes which we can become so adept at using that we rarely need to look them up again, and indeed we can put our own stamps on them.  They become recipes we know by heart, and these are mine.

We sure have missed being surrounded by Orchards up here in Chester. When we were down South, we were able to just walk out our back door in the autumn and go scrumping for apples . . . lovely windfalls.  There was no end to the baked goodies and treats I cold make.  Although we now have our own apple tree, for some reason this year we had not even one apple on it.  Quite a disappointment, to say the least!
We were lucky though, in that a few days ago, our landlord gifted us with a couple of bags of lovely organic apples from his back garden.



Oh how lovely they were, all big and juicy.  As soon as I saw them I had in mind to make applesauce with them.  They were just perfect for it.

Todd and I love to sit down with a bowl of applesauce in the evenings sometimes, and it's so much better when the applesauce is homemade!  You just can't beat homemade applesauce.



We like it a bit chunky and not totally pureed and not overly sweet.  This recipe helps you to tailor the sweetness and texture to your own tastes.



*Applesauce*
Makes about 3 cups
Printable Recipe

This recipe  basically calls for your own taste judgment.  If your apples are very  tart, you won't need as much lemon juice, but you may need more sugar.   The trick is to taste it as you go along and add only as much as you  think the apples need.

4 large firm apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
4 ounces water (1/2 cup)
sugar to taste
3 TBS lemon juice

Place  the apples and water into a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook,  stirring often until the apples become tender and begin to break down,  about 5 to 6 minutes.  Add sugar to taste and the lemon juice.  Stir to  blend well.  Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove from the heat and  mash with a fork.



And then . . .  if you are lucky enough to have enough apples to make a big pot of applesauce, you can use some of it to make this delicious teabread!  Oh my but this is soooo good.

It is hard to resist cutting in to it when it is fresh out of the oven . . . oh so spicy and warmly delicious.



It does have a tendency to fall apart if you don't let it sit overnight though . . . but I confess, I've never been good at waiting for anything!  If you're better at that  than me though, wrap it up and let it sit overnight.  You'll get much nicer slices that way.



*Applesauce Tea Bread*
Makes one 9 by 5 inch loaf, cutting into 14 slices
Printable Recipe

A  delicious moist and spicy tea bread that gets even better upon  standing.  This will taste even better on the second day if you can wait  that long!

7 1/2 ounces plain flour (1 3/4 cups)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
8 ounces unsalted butter (1 cup)
3 1/2 ounces white sugar (1/2 cup)
3 3/4 ounces soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
2 tsp cold water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250ml measure of applesauce (homemade or store bought) (1 cup)
5 1/4 ounces sultana raisins (1 cup)
2 ounces chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup)

Preheat  the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Butter a 9 by 5 inch metal loaf  tin. Line with baking paper and then butter the baking paper.  Set  aside.

Whisk together the flour and spices.  Set aside.

Cream  together the butter and both sugars until light.  Place cold water in a  bowl and stir in the bicarbonate of soda until dissolved.  Stir this  into the applesauce.  It will foam up.  Stir this mixture into the  creamed mixture, mixing it in well.  Fold in the flour mixture, mixing  to combine.  Stir in the sultanas and nuts.

Spoon the batter  into the prepared baking tin.  Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 10  minutes, until well risen, nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into  the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven.  Leave in the pan for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Please Note - This recipe does not call for any eggs.  I haven't left them out.

After making that lovely Orange and Coconut Crisp yesterday, I had a whole stack of orange peels left and I thought it would be a real shame to waste them!

I had always wanted to make candied orange peel, but for one reason or another I'd never done it. My sister used to make it for my father for Christmas. He really loved it.



I know you can pay a real fortune for candied peel when you go to buy it in the shops. I found a recipe for it online and decided to go for it.



My goodness but it made alot . . . and I really mean a LOT! I now have candied orange peel up the kazooey! But that's ok, coz we rather really like it!



You can always dip it in chocolate if you want as well. Dark chocolate is really tasty. Orange and chocolate are such a delicious combination . . . it hasn't done Terry's any harm! (Just whack it!)



You also have the added bonus of having several cups of orange syrup at the end of the process that you can use to make tasty drinks with. I am thinking that it might be rather nice stirred into hot chocolate, or iced drinks.



It might even be nice on french toast . . . hmmm . . . coconut milk french toast with an orange syrup. Now THAT sounds delish!

Mmm . . . makes a nice fat free snack, this does. I am in love.



*Candied Orange Peel*
Makes a lot
Printable Recipe

Bitter and sweet at the same time. Not that hard to make!

6 thick skinned navel oranges
900g of sugar (4 1/2 cups)
375ml of water (1 1/2 cups)
extra sugar for dredging

Cut the tops and bottoms from the oranges and score the oranges into quarters. Cut only into the peel, and not into the fruit. Peel the skin and white pith off of the oranges in large pieces, reserving the actual flesh for something else. Cut the peels into strips about 1/4 inch wide. Place into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then drain. Repeat this twice more, using fresh water each time. This helps to mellow out the bitterness.

Take a clean saucepan and place the sugar and water into it. Bring to a simmer and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the peels and continue to simmer for another 45 minutes until translucent. Do not stir as this will cause crystals to form. If you need to you can gently swirl the pan to move the peels around. Once translucent, drain the peels well, reserving the syrup, which can be used for other things such as flavouring drinks etc. Dredge the orange peels in sugar and place on wire rack to dry overnight. Stire in an airtight container.

In honor of Valentine's Day for my sweetie pie I made the Toddster a Traditional Cream Tea. I do love him an awful lot and I like to spoil him whenever I can. He is really a very easy person to please and doesn't ask much of me. He truly is my sweetie pie.

You will find "Cream Teas" on offer throughout the UK, but they are truly a speciality of the SouthWest . . . Devon and Cornwall areas. I have seen Welsh Cream Teas as well as Cream Teas being offered in many other areas of the UK. In general nowadays, they are offered in Tearooms across the UK wherever someone wants to give an impression of British influence.



A traditional cream tea is comprised of two fresh scones, strawberry jam, clotted cream and a cup of hot tea. I like to use Sultana Scones. You can find my recipe for those HERE. I promise you, they are delicious!



If you don't have homemade strawberry jam or preserves (the best), then you should use a really good quality store bought variety. I like to use Bon Maman or TipTree preserves, because they have lots of lovely chunks of berries in them.



What is clotted Cream:

Rich, thick and indulgent, clotted cream is a delicious cream with the consistency of soft butter. Produced on many Dairy Farms in SouthWest England, it is made by placing un-pastuerized milk in shallow pans over indirect heat. Once warmed it is then left to cool slowly, without disturbing. The cream then rises to the surface and forms 'clots' or 'clouts. It has a nutty, cooked milk flavour, with at least 55 per cent butter fat, giving it a pale yellow colour that is often topped with a deeper yellow crust. It is an essential ingredient in a true "Cream Tea," and makes a fabulously tasty and rich filling for a sponge cake, especially when layered with fresh fruit. It also makes wonderful ice cream!

It's impossible for us to send true clotted cream over to North America because of regulations and such, but it is possible for you to make your own, if you wish. There is a long way . . . and an easy way, (which isn't really clotted cream at all, but tastes pretty good just the same)!

The long way:
Take two cups of heavy cream and heat it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until reduced by half. It should be thick and creamy and have a golden crust on top.

The easy way:
Beat 8 ounces of cream cheese until fluffy, then whisk in 4 ounces of sour cream and 2 TBS of icing sugar. Put into a serving bowl and chill until ready to use.




We always have herbal tea with ours, because we are Mormons and don't drink regular tea, but having worked as a Chef in a Manor House for many years, I do know how to make a proper cup of tea . . .

One of the biggest complaints of English people visiting the United States is that Americans don’t know how to make "proper" tea. Here’s the proper way to do it, and it doesn't involve dipping a tea bag into a cup and covering it with boiling water . . .

You must first fill a kettle and bring it to the boil. Just before your kettle has reached boiling point, pour a little hot water into the teapot and allow it to stand for about a minute so that the pot is warm. Empty out the hot water from the nicely warmed pot and put in loose tea or tea bags, whichever you prefer.

When the water is boiling (and not before) pour it onto the tea in the teapot. Leave to brew for 3 or 4 minutes and stir it well before you pour it out into hot cups.

Serve with milk, sugar and lemon wedges and let people add as they please. It is a matter of debate as to whether you add the milk to the cup before the tea, or the tea before the milk.



How to assemble your Cream Tea:

Cover your table with a pretty cloth. Set a nice tea plate and warm cup and saucer out for each person, along with a knive and a teaspoon for each. Pretty napkins are a must as well.

Put your clotted cream in a decorative bowl and your preserves in another bowl. Place a tiny spoon in each for serving. Set these out on the table, along with a china plate of fresh sultana scones and warm tea cups. Place the teapot filled with hot tea on the table as well, and then let people help themself to the scones, preserves and clotted cream. (The scones are always served at room temperature and never warm)



Each person splits their own scones in half, then covers one half with a thick dollop of clotted cream and then the other haf with a nice layer of strawberry jam. I like my cream on the bottom, but there are others that like their cream on the top! It's all a matter of personal preference and upbringing!

Pour out your hot cup of tea . . . sit back . . . and enjoy!



Ahhhh . . . Cream Teas . . . they are my only weakness . . . sigh . . .

Whenever we take a long journey in the car, I always make sandwiches for us to take. We always make several stops at rest stops along the way . . . and the food they have on offer in these places is always expensive and not very tasty . . .



The sandwiches are usually not very well filled, bread dry, and not very interesting or tasty. It's the same thing, time and time again . . . tuna with cucumber, lacking in flavour . . . tuna or chicken with sweetcorn, same thing . . . skimpy slices of ham with a few bits of stale salad . . . chicken and stuffing, heavy on the stuffing and light on the chicken . . . etc. it goes on and on . . .



It doesn't really take much time to make your own sandwiches and they are always alot tastier than anything you can buy on the road, and a lot cheaper too!



There are a few rules I like to follow though:

1. Spread any sandwich which is going to have a wet filling generously with butter, and right to the edges, so as to prevent any sogginess.
2. Use a sturdy bread which will hold up to the journey and standing for several hours.
3. Spread the filling generously and to the edge. Helps to prevent dry corners from being discarded in the trash later on.
4. Cut in half so that you have rectangles. This shape is a lot easier to pack and a lot easier to eat out of hand.
5. Wrap well in greaseproof paper (wax paper) or cling film to help keep them fresh and store in a sturdy container to help keep them from becoming crushed.
6. Don't forget the napkins. If you have followed my advice and generously filled them, you will quite happily need them!

Here's two of our favourite on-the-road sandwich fillings. We both enjoy these, although I do add shredded lettuce to my tuna, placing it onto the buttered bread just before I add the filling. Todd deplores salad in his sandwiches and so . . .



You guessed it. I don't put any on his. It goes without saying that if you are taking these in the car or on a picnic, they are best eaten on the day. Don't save any overnight that you haven't eaten on the day for the next day. Bad, bad idea, unless you have been brilliant enough to store them in a well chilled cooler.




*Ham Salad Filling*
Makes 2 or 3, depending on how generous you are with your filling
Printable Recipe

Savoury chopped ham, combined with some crunch, and tasty bits.

1 (200g) tin of cooked ham
(or 200g of cooked ham, chopped finely)
1 TBS good quality mayonnaise (I use Hellman's)
1 heaped tsp of Dijon mustard
(if you like extra texture, use a grainy one)
1 TBS sweet pickle relish
1 TBS chopped gerkhins
1 spring onion, trimmed and chopped
freshly ground black pepper
Bread (choose a sturdy one)
softened butter

Mix together all of the sandwich ingredients. (Ham, mayo, mustard, pickle relish, gerkhins and onion.) Taste and add pepper as required. Butter your slices of bread to the edges with softened butter. Spread half of the slices with the filling and top with the rest. Cut in half to serve.

If taking out, wrap well and then store in a sturdy container.



*Tuna Salad Filling*
Makes 2 or 3 depending on how generous you are with your filling.
Printable Recipe

Tasty tuna with some crunch and savoury bits.

1 (200g tin) of albacore tuna in spring water, drained and flaked
1 TBS of lemon pepper salad cream
1 TBS of good quality mayonnaise (I use Hellman's)
1 TBS sweet pickle relish
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
1 heaped TBS of finely chopped red onion
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Bread (choose a sturdy one)
softened butter

Mix together all of the sandwich ingredients. (drained tuna, salad cream, mayonnaise, pickle relish, celery, and red onion) Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Butter your slices of bread to the edges with softened butter. Spread half of the slices with the filling and top with the rest. Cut in half to serve

If taking out, wrap well and then store in a sturdy container.



Don't forget the napkins!