I hate to admit it, but one thing I really do miss over here is good corn on the cob . . . especially in August when all my loved ones back home are digging into feasts of crispy tender corn on the cob, slathered in butter . . . Oh-so-sweet and crisp and delicious!



They do not have good corn over here. Oh, it's ok, but . . . it's not at all near as tasty as what we have back home. We even had some corn seeds sent over to us which we planted a few years back . . . it didn't grow well. We ended up with a few stunted ears, which while quite delicious, were not near enough to satisfy my craving!



Anyways, I do make do with what I can find . . . coz the North American in me just can't pass a summer by without having some corn on the cob. I have a tendancy to herb it up with tasty butters and such though, which more than make up for any lack of flavour in the corn.



They just don't "get" corn over here, I don't think. Corn should be cooked as soon as possible after picking. Every hour it waits it gets starchier and tougher. Most of the corn we have in the shops is old . . . or already husked. (DO NOT HUSK your corn until just before cooking it!!!)



I did manage to find some today that was not already husked and I snapped it up. It wasn't as good as the corn from back home . . . but I did it justice I think . . .as best as I could. It wasn't half bad actually!



*Oven Roasted Corn on the Cob with Herbs*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Corn on the cob, slathered with butter, seasoned, sprinkled with herbs and then rolled up in parchment paper and baked in the oven until buttery tender crisp and herby!

4 fresh ears of corn
softened butter (about 4 TBS)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
fresh herb sprigs (basil, rosemary, thyme, dill, marjoram or sage)

Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 8. Husk the corn and remove any silk clinging to the ears.

Get four large squaares of baking parchment (greaseproof paper). Spread each ear of corn with some softened butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a square of parchment. Lay 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh herbs around each ear. Wrap up and seal on the ends by twisting tightly.

Place the sealed ears of corn directly on the oven rack. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tender crisp. Unwrap to serve.



For the best flavours combine herbs in duos, such as thyme and dill, basil and rosemary, or thyme and sage. Delicious!

Flavoured Butters are a really easy and delicious way to get some flavour into your corn, especially when it's not the best quality of corn that it should or could be.
Here are some tasty suggestions:

Dill Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 1 TBS chopped fresh chives, 1 TBS chopped fresh dill, 1 tsp lemon juice.

Italian Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 1/4 tsp garlic salt, 1 TBS chopped fresh basil, 1 TBS chopped fresh oregano leaves.

Horseradish and Parsley Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 1 TBS chopped fresh parsley, 2 tsp prepared horseradish, salt and black pepper to taste.

Caesar Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 2 TBS grated Parmesan Cheese, 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley, 2 TBS Caesar Salad dressing, fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Curry Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 1 TBS good quality curry powder

Basil Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 1 tsp chopped fresh basil, 1 tsp chopped fresh chives, salt and black pepper to taste.

Onion Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 2 finely chopped spring onions, 1/4 tsp ground paprika, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Chili Butter - 2 ounces (1/4 cup) softened butter, 2 TBS sweet chili sauce.

Just combine the ingredients for each flavour together and spread on the cobs of corn before wrapping and roasting.


Over in Oak Cottage today, there's a delicious Chocolate Chunk Pie!

One of my favourite vegetables from the garden has always been Beetroot. We grow them every year and right about now they are just perfect for eating.

Great for boosting one's stamina and increasing muscle efficiency, beetroot are a great source of folic acid and contain potassium, magnesium and iron as well as vitamins A, B6 and C. £ small beetroot count as one of your daily five portions of fruit and veg a day!



Alot of people here in the UK seem to think that all you can do with a beetroot is pickle it, and I do confess, I love me some picked beetroot!

They are also wonderful when roasted in or out of the skins. They are beautiful shredded and used raw in a salad, or even grated and used like carrots would be in a cake!



*Pretty In Pink Polkadot Cake*
Serves 9
Printable Recipe

Moist and spicy with intriguing pink speckles throughout. Your guests will be quite surprised when they find out where all that pretty colour comes from! I like to think this is quite healthy and a good way to have your vegetables and eat your cake too!

CAKE:
150g raw beetroot, peeled and grated (about 4 medium beetroot)
200ml sunflower oil (2/3 cup)
250g golden caster sugar (1 1/4 cup)
3 large eggs, separated
3 TBS milk
100g chopped walnuts, toasted (scant cup)
200g plain flour (scant 1 1/2 cup)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each, ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground nutmeg (I like to grate my nutmeg fresh)
1/2 cup really good quality strawberry jam for filling
FROSTING:
180g butter, softened (about 3/4 cup)
150g icing sugar, sifted (1 generous cupful)
450g low fat cream cheese (2 cups, or 16 ounces)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pink sugar flowers and pink glitter to decorate



Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.. Grease two nine inch cake tins really well and dust with flour. Set aside. (alternately you can line with baking paper and grease it as well)

Remove about 1 tsp of the grated beetroot into a small bowl and cover with 2 teaspoons of boiling water and set this aside. (You will use this to colour the icing)

Whisk the sugar and the oil together in a bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks and the milk. Fold in the remaining beetroot and the nuts. It will look quite revoltingly red but don't let this alarm you in the least! (trust me!)

Sift together the flour, baking powder and the spices. Stir this mixture into the beaten mixture. Whip the egg whites until stiff with an egg beater and then fold them into the cake mixture in three additions, being careful not to over fold. Fold only to incorporate fully. Divide the batter evenly amongst the two prepared pans.

Bake in the heated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, only until the cake tests done and shrinks away a bit from the sides of the pan and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Run a knife around the edges and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the frosting by beating the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Blend in the cream cheese until smooth and then work in the vanilla. Add some of the reserved beetroot liquor a little at a time to help tint the icing a pretty pink.

Remove the cake from the pans and place one layer in the middle of a pretty plate. Spread about 1/4 of the frosting on top of this layer. Spread the strawberry jam over top leaving about half an inch border around the edges with just icing. Carefully sandwich the other layer on top. Use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides, spreading it evenly and swirling it somewhat on the top. Decorate with the sugar flowers and sprinkle on some pink glitter to finish.

Place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour to set. If not serving straight away, cover with cling film and chill. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you want to serve it.



I also love to cook the tops of the beetroot, the leaves. These are fabulous sauteed or steamed like you would any leafy green. Just make sure you wash them really well, as they can be quite sandy. (Grit in the teeth=nasty!!) I have a fab recipe HERE for sauteed ones. Steamed you can just season with a bit of salt, pepper and some vinegar and butter. Delicious! (We've had precious little of those this year as the slugs seem to enjoy them almost as much as we do!!)

Of course one of our absolute favourite ways of preparing them is what is called Harvard Beets in North America. Deliciously tender beetroot in a sweet, tangy and buttery sauce!

Oh, I do adore beetroot in any way shape or form!




*Sweet and Tangy Beetroot*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Delicious tender beetroot in a sweet and tangy sauce. Fabulous side dish and a great way to use up some of the beetroot from the garden!

3.5 ounces sugar (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
2 fluid ounces cider vinegar (1/4 cup)
2 fluid ounces cooking water from the beets (1/4 cup)
6 medium sized beetroot, cooked until tender, peeled and then sliced
(about 3 cups)
2 TBS butter
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste



Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together in a saucepan. Add the vinegar and water, whisking well to blend. Bring to the boil over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in the beets, tossing together well. Take off the heat and let stand for 30 minutes. Just before serving, add the butter and reheat to boiling point. Serve hot.



I'm cooking Courgettes (Zucchini) over in Oak Cottage today.

Well, here we are in the Dog Days of Summer and the temperatures are soaring and not a lot of cooking is going on in the kitchen. We are opting for cool and quick . . . summery flavours and textures, refreshing and healthy and quick to prepare, leaving us with more time to be out in the garden enjoying the sunshine!

I thought it would be fun today to show you some of my favourites that I like to prepare in the summer months. Here are my top ten! I hope you enjoy. If you click on the title of each it will take you to the original post and the recipes! Happy August Everyone!

(All my salad recipes that I have ever posted can be found HERE.)




Summer Fruit Salad

A tasty bowl of stone fruits and summer berries, lightly dresssed with mint, honey and fresh orange juice. Can you say REFRESHING?



Beetroot Summer Salad Bowl

A delicious supper salad of baby peas, little gems, cooked beetroot and ham with a tangy yoghurt and horseradish dressing!



Three Grain Salad

A hearty side dish salad filled with all the goodness of chopped apple, raisins, toasted walnuts, wheatberries, barley and rice with a warmy spiced honey dressing. Deliciously different!



Broccoli Delight Salad

Everyone's favourite, with broccoli, red onion, toasted nuts, and raisins in a delish sweet and sour buttermilk dressing!



Turkey Cobb Salad

A tasty combination of roasted turkey bits, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, bacon and blue cheese in a tangy and flavourful dressing. A meal in a bowl.



Corn and Bean Salad

A little bit different than your usual bean salad, with chickpeas, cannelini beans, tomatoes, corn, courgettes, spring onions and peppers in a deliciously tangy Yoghurt, Lime and Coriander Dressing!



Chicken Salad

A tasty version of chicken salad with mostarda di fruitta, spring onions, toasted pecans, celery and chicken! (Of course!)



A Salad of Cherry Tomatoes and Olives

Cherry tomatoes, green and black olives in an herby Balsamic Dressing. Oh so delicious!



Warm Potato, Olive and Green Bean Salad

Baby new potatoes, plum tomatoes, olives, fresh green beans, red onions and rocket in a tangy Balsamic dressing and topped with grated Parmesan!



Moroccan Carrot Salad with Green Olives and Mint

A real winner with the fresh Middle Eastern Flavours of mint, harissa, coriander, cumin . . . warm and inviting and deliciously different!

I've been collecting the Waitrose Recipe Cards for years now. Every month they used to put new ones out and I would dutifully collect the ones that looked delicious to me. Sadly, since I moved up to Chester I've not been able to collect any more, but every once in a while I go through the ones I have and make one of them.



I am never disappointed. Never. They always live up to their promise and we are always delighted with the results.



Today I had some blueberries I wanted to use. I had picked this card out of my Waitrose File a week or so ago, and put it in my to make soon file. It's from May 2004, but is just the perfect dessert for August!!



Back home the wild blueberries would be ripening in August and August is when I get to craving those little blue beauties. This recipe is a glorious blue variation along the traditions of Eaton Mess . . . except it used blueberries, and lemon curd yoghurt.



♥ S-C-R-U-M-M-Y ♥ doesn't even begin to describe how wonderful this is!! You truly MUST make it and soon! You won't be sorry you did. It's light and lemony and blueberry-ee and just wonderful!



Oh, and did I forget to mention it's easy peasy lemon squeasy??? Well, it is! Welcome to August!!



*Blueberry Bliss*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A blueberry version of a traditional Eaton Mess, using blueberries, lemon curd yoghurt, whipped cream and meringues. Oh yes . . . some good!

250g of blueberries, washed (2 cups)
1 TBS sugar
4 TBS cold water
142ml of double cream (1/3 cup whipping cream)
2 X 150g pots of Lemon Curd Yoghurt dessert (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 TBS icing sugar, sifted
2 meringue nests roughly broken into chunks

Place half of the blueberries into a saucepan with the sugar and cold water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes until the berries begin to break down. Remove from the heat and press through a sieve into a bowl to make a glossy blueberry coulis. Set aside to cool.

Whip the cream in a bowl until it JUST begins to thicken. (Don't overwhip please.) Carefully fold in the lemon yoghurts, icing sugar and meringues along with the whole blueberries that are left., reserving a couple for a garnish.

Spoon a third of the cream mixture into a large serving dish, or 4 individual serving dishes. Drizzle with a TBS of the coulis. Repeat this twice, finishing with a final layer of the cream Decorate with the reserved berries and some more coulis. Serve immediately.

One day a few weeks back I was talking to my mother on the phone and somehow the conversation got around to pies, as they do . . . ☺



My mother always made the best pies going. When pie was on the menu, everyone in our family was a happy camper . . . and it didn't matter if it was a sweet pie or a savoury pie. All her pies were great!!



When I was 13, she had to go away for a weekend and she left me in charge of the kitchen. I had to do all the meals which was no problem. She had left a homemade Turkey Pot Pie for one of the meals. I thought I had divided it up equally amongst everyone . . . but I was accused of having taken the largest piece for myself, which I strongly denied, but which in retrospect I probably did! Isn't that the cooks prerogative??? (I was doing all the work, even if it was only heating it up and cutting it into servings!!!)



Anyways, back to our conversation and pies . . . we got to talking about blueberry pies. When I first moved over here to the UK, you could not find a blueberry for love nor money. Having grown up with an abundance of wild blueberries, they were something that I really, really missed over here. I was so happy when they started to appear in the shops. They may not be wild and they may come mostly from Poland (although more and more are being grown here), but I just love them, and they are so good for you!



My mom was saying that her mother (my grandmother) always used to make the custard variety of blueberry pie and I was intrigued when I thought about it afterwards . . . how delicious it sounded . . . blueberry custard pie . . . wowser, wowser!



I've been thinking about it ever since and today I came up with this tasty little gem. You don't have to use blueberries with it . . . you could use just about any type of berry you want, or a combination of several different types. Blueberries were what I had today though, and Blueberry Custard Pie was what I was dreaming of, and so that is what I made, in honor of my dear late grandmother.



It was fabulous! I think I have found a new ♥ favourite ♥ kind of blueberry pie! It may even become your ♥ favourite ♥ kind of blueberry pie. You never know! (Ice cream would go very well with this, but I didn't have any . . . sigh . . . )



*Berry Custard Pie*Makes one 9 inch pie
Printable Recipe

A delicious berry pie layered with berries, custard and a vanilla streusel on top!

You will need:
your favourite pastry recipe to line one 9 inch glass pie dish

For the Filling:
1 oz plain flour (1/4 cup)
10 ounces sugar (1 1/2 cup)
450g of berries (blueberries, raspberries, currants) about 3 cups
2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly
170g tin of evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed) (6 fluid ounces)
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the Streusel:
1.5 ounces of plain flour (1/3 cup flour)
3.5 ounces sugar (1/2 cup)
2 ounces butter, cut into bits (1/4 cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a 9 inch glass pie dish with your pastry, trimming and crimping the edges to please.

Put the berries into the crust. Whisk together the flour and sugar for the filling to mix. Sprinkle this evenly over the berries, stirring them up a bit to mix. Beat together the eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla. Pour this evenly over top of the berries and flour mixture.

Rub the streusel ingredients together until they resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the berry filling.

Bake for about 1 hour in the heated oven until the pie is golden brown and set and the crust is nicely crisped.

Allow to cool at least two hours before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

I am just loving summer with all of it's fresh fruit and vegetables! It is by far and away the best time of year for fruit and veg just packed with flavour!



The supermarket shelves (not to mention my garden) are a dancing parade of delicious colour and taste, and I am love, love, lovin' every moment of it!



I especially love the abundance of fresh berries! Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, red and black currants, gooseberries, . . . oh so lovely. And the stone fruit . . . English cherries, early plums, apricots and fresh peaches from the continent . . . oh so yummy!



There is so very much you can do with them and we have been enjoying our fair share of them fresh and eaten out of hand and then in some pretty scrummy desserts . . . but you know what?



They just aren't for dessert! They also make lovely fruity salsa's that are just perfect with grilled chicken, lamb and pork.



Today I did some lovely grilled chicken breasts, all moist tender and flavourful . . . accompanied by a fruity yet zesty fresh berry salsa.



Each mouthful was a delight . . . the berries sweet and yet at the same time tangy from the lime juice and a bit salty from the salt and the pepper, chili and cilantro gave it a nice zip! And let's not forget the rich creaminess from the avocado!



All in all a truly wonderful combination that I hope you will want to try out for yourself! (I am thinking it would also be wonderful in a wrap with either sliced roast turkey or chicken, and perhaps a gutsy lettuce like Baby Gems or even rocket.) Watch this space!

This is light, fresh, colourful and delicious!



*Grilled Chicken with a Summer Berry Salsa*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Berries aren't just for dessert! Moist tender chicken with a delicious berry salsa that has a bit of a bite!

3 TBS olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
the juice and zest of one unwaxed lime
100g of fresh strawberries, roughly chopped (6 large berries)
100g of fresh blueberries (about 3/4 cup)
100g of fresh raspberries (23 raspberries)
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped (do be careful not to touch your nose, face or eyes when
working with fresh chilies)
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 ripe avocado, skinned and diced
20g of fresh coriander leaves, chopped (Cilantro) (a handful, leaves only, discard stems)

Heat a griddle to medium heat. Brush 2 TBS olive oil over the butterflied chicken breasts. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on the heated griddle, turning halfway through the cooking time, until cooked through and the juices run clear. (4 to 5 minutes per side.)

While the chicken is cooking, whisk the remaining oil with the lime juice and zest. Season to taste with some salt and pepper.

Put the berries into a bowl. Add the dressing along with the onion, chili, avocado and coriander. Toss gently together.

Serve the griddled chicken with the berry salsa spooned over top. Serve immediately.