With raspberry season being in full swing at the moment I had a real hankering for a raspberry cake!  Oh, I do love raspberries any way I can get them, but they really shine in cakes!


 
Especially this one which had a delightful homemade raspberry sauce baked right into the middle of it.  Just look at that sweet tart lucious raspberry oooze  . . .


 
Oh boy but this is some good.   The batter is a sour cream coffee cake type of batter.  Not as in coffee flavoured batter, but as in a cake batter for a cake that you would want to enjoy with a nice hot drink either in the morning or for your break time . . . this batter is flavoured with almond and vanilla, not coffee.


 
This cake just screams winner!  It is not officially raspberry season until I bake it at least once!!  mmmm . . .  moist almond flavoured cake with a beautiful sweet/tart seam of raspberry deliciousness running through the middle.

 
Another really good thing about this cake is that you can also bake it in the depths of winter with frozen berries . . .  ahhh . . .  a sweet taste of summer.  You just got to love that!

 
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, almond extract and vanilla.  Sift together the flour, soda, salt and baking powder.  Stir this into the creamed mixture along with the sour cream and combine to give you a smooth batter.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares to serve.



I did dust some icing sugar on top to serve  . . . just to dress it up a bit.  Every gal shines a bit more in her frills don't they!  Bon Appetit!

 
The original recipe used dried Italian salad dressing mix (in its unmixed, dry form) along with brown sugar and some butter for dotting.  We don't have dried Italian salad dressing mixes over here.  It is possible to get it at a premium price from some sites which carry North American goods, but generally speaking it doesn't exist.


 This chicken is really, really good however, and so I had to come up with a way to adapt it to what I could get over here because it is a chicken I just crave every now and then!



I combined a mix of herbs and powders to approximate the same flavours I might get from the dressing mix . . .  garlic and onion powders, basil, oregano, thyme, salt and cracked black pepper  . . . a bit of dried pepper flakes for some heat.  All the flavour, but none of the preservatives.

 
It actually might even be better than using the dry mix because of that.   This mixture gets mixed with some brown sugar and then sprinkled over bone in, skin on chicken thighs, dotted with butter and baked until all those flavours penetrate the chicken and that skin gets all sticky crisp and finger licking good!


Sure, it's not a low fat kind of a dish, but once in a blue moon this makes a really tasty treat. You could use chicken breasts if you really wanted to, but be sure to cut the bake time way down, and of course you won't get that lovely crispy skin.  You can also use one package of dry Italian Salad Dressing Mix if you want to instead of my combination of flavours.  Just mix it in with the brown sugar as per the recipe and leave my additions out.


2 TBS softened butter



I think this is sure to become one of your favourites as well.  If it doesn't well . . .  there is just no accounting for taste eh?  We are all different.  Bon Appetit!

Burger night tonight with Simpe Turkey Burgers.  Nothing fancy here, but so delicious, especially if you make the Cranberry Mayonnaise to go along with them!


Its a very easy burger mix . . .  just ground turkey, with a minced red onion, some minced parsley, salt, pepper and garlic.


Nothing fancy, but it doesn't need to be . . . more often than not, simple ingredients put together in the proper proportion and way taste utterly fabulous . . .  proof positive that there is no need to really complicate things!


Do make the cranberry mayo however . . .  it's just perfect with these tasty burgers, giving them just a little bit of extra oomph!


My turkey patties today were extra thin, and so melted Dutch Masaam cheese on top and layered them double decker style in the bun . . .



That cheese is so holey that two slices don't make up much more than one slice of cheese anyways . . .  just look at how delicious these look  . . .  I added some shredded lettuce on top of that delicious mayo . . . and with a bit of additional chopped red onion on top, these were nothing short of perfection!

 
1 large bunch of fresh parsley, washed, drained and finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
Mix all of the ingredients together and store in a covered container. Will keep for up to 1 week.



This delicious Cranberry Mayo is also fabulous on chicken or turkey sandwiches.  We just love it!   I served these with a  delicous Caesar salad on the side.  You can look forward to that recipe tomorrow! Bon Appetit!

You would be forgiven for thinking that these are Molasses Crinkle Cookies at first glance, but you would be completely wrong.  Although they might look quite similar in appearance, they are quite different, albeit just as delicious to munch on!



These are much larger for one thing  . . .  about 3 inches in diameter.  So quite big . . .


These are  also quite a bit softer . . .  chewy . . .  moreishly so . . . they use not one but two kinds of soft brown sugar, both the dark and light. If you don't like lumps of sugar in your cookies, sift the sugars. Myself, I am not opposed to small nuggets of  chewy, almost caramel-like sweetness studded here and there in my cookies.  But suit yourself . . .


They are aso sweetened with molasses as you can see from the title.  If you cannot get molasses and I appreciate that it is somewhat difficult to come by here in the UK, combine equal parts of dark treacle and golden syrup, 30ml of each should work.




They bake into beautiful big round dense and fudgy almost . . .  chewy wonderfully flavoured cookies that would not entirely be uncomfortable served with an ice cold glass of milk!!


The recipe only makes 16 rather large cookies, but upon tasting them you will be glad for that fact because, lets face it . . .  you will not be able to leave them alone and having any more than that would be sure to tip you over the edge into full on gluttonly.   They are nigh on impossible to resist!


 

130g granulated sugar for rolling and sprinkling (2/3 cup)

Cream together the butter and both brown sugars until light. (If you are opposed to lumps of sugar in your cookies, which I am not, seive the sugar first.) Beat in the egg, molasses and vanilla. Stir in the soda water.  Stir in the flour mixture until well combined.  The dough will be quite sticky.


Measure the granulated sugar into a bowl.  Scoop out dessertspoon measures of the dough and shape into ping pong sized balls. Drop into the sugar in the bowl and roll around to coat.  Place onto the baking sheet leaving plenty of space in between. You should be able to fit 8 cookies on each sheet.  Press down lightly with the palm of your hand until they are 1/2 inch thick.  Sprinkle with a bit more granulated sugar.


Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 10 minutes until puffed and beginning to crack, rotating pans halfway through the baking time.  Allow to sit on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before scooping off onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.  


Will keep well for three days, not that you will have them around that long!



You are seriously about to fall in love.  You can thank me for these after . . .  Bon Appetit!

One thing that North Americans find very confusing is that the British call cookies Biscuits.  In North America a biscuit is well, a biscuit!  A type of quick bread similar to a scone, but actually quite different.  I love biscuits . . . both the North American type and the cookie type!


I'm honest if nothing else.  I adore buttermilk biscuits.  So moist and light . . .  and these Peppered Buttermilk Biscuits are no exception.  They are buttery, moist and light!


I love the sparky addition of coarse black pepper to these.  You might think it would be over-powering, as there is a full teaspoon of it, but it is not overwhelming in the least.  Its just perfect.


Another thing  I like about this recipe is that it only makes six, which is the perfect amount for a small family like mine.  There are only two of us and so small amounts are what I prefer, unless we are having company.


These are equally at home nestled next to a warm bowl of soup, a stew or along side of a tasty salad, which makes them an all year around quick bread to enjoy!


They are nice served warm, of course  . . .  with lashings of butter melting down into that peppery tastiness  . . .




They do differ a bit than most biscuit recipes in that they use butter and not shortening or lard.  I am all for that.  I love butter. And it shows. Meh . . .


Oh well . . .  we all have our weaknesses and one of mine is butter . . . and biscuits  . . .  and chocolate . . . and fried chicken . . . ice cream  . . .  pie  . . .  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.


I just plain love to eat.  Guilty as charged!


Note - You can make these ahead on the day and keep at room temperature for several hours, reheating briefly in a 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 3 oven for 10 minutes, or in a micro-wave until just heated through, about 30 seconds on medium.





I was going to try to bake bread today, but it got so hot and humid and sticky I gave up on that idea, so I baked biscuits instead.  That's another thing biscuits are good for. They are a quick to make alternative to a loaf of bread.  Quick, easy,  and satisfying.  Bon Appetit!

This is a super simple dish and is quite, quite delicious.  It also makes use of things which most people have around most of the time. 


Things like pasta . . .  and pesto. I always have a jar of pesto in the cupboard, but in the summer I like to make my own. It's really VERY easy to make.  I have a recipe to make your own here.


That is when the basil in my garden is going mad and I have tons of it.  You can freeze it in Ice Cube trays and then pop the cubes out into zip lock baggies for use all year round if you wanted to. Easy Peasy.


Cherry tomatoes.  I always have them in the house as well. We eat a lot of them and in the summer, I grow my own also.  Ours are not ready yet, of course, but this is the perfect recipe for when they are, and in the meantime a good vine grown cherry tomato from the shops will work very well.


I use whole wheat pasta because I am a diabetic and it is better for diabetics to use whole wheat pasta.  But you can use ordinary pasta if you wish.  Just make sure it has lots of crevices and curves to hug all that lovely sauce.


Double cream. Something else I always have in the refrigerator, but here is a little secret I am going to let you in on . . .  low fat evaporated milk.  You can use that instead of double cream and cut down on the calories and fat no problem.  Works fine and with the pesto in the sauce you wouldn't be able to tell that you have used it by taste.  Seriously.

White wine. We don't drink alcohol in our home, but I always keep small bottles of white and red wine in my larder.  I think they contain what would be construed as a single serving for someone who drinks wine.  They are perfect for me because I know they will get used up quickly and won't go off.  They are not all that expensive either, a couple of pounds is all.


Mushrooms, and here is another true confession here.  I have discovered bags of frozen mushrooms.  They work perfectly in dishes where you are going to cook your mushrooms. You can pick up a bag of them at the grocery store in the frozen department.  In ASDA you can get a 600g bag for £1. They are a great store cupboard ingredient for something like this. They are loose frozen so you can just dump out as much as you need, and they come in very handy.


 
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over meidum high heat.  Add the tomatoes and mushrooms.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have softened nicely and the mushrooms are soft and tender.   Stir in the white wine, cream and pesto sauce.  Bring to a low simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly.  Don't let it boil.  Stir in the cooked pasta and heat through.  Season to taste and serve hot, topped with Parmesan Cheese.



Another true confession.  I have even used tinned cherry tomatoes when I don't have fresh ones in the house (very rare, but it does happen from time to time) and this pasta dish still rocks!  A bit of cheese to garnish each serving and Bob's Your Uncle!  Dinner is served!  Bon Appetit!