I saw this fabulous casserole on Half Baked Harvest one day and I fell in love with the photograph and recipe.  I mean . . . . croissants, jam, cream cheese, eggs, fruit  . . .  what's not to love about that!  I thought to myself, I'm IN!

 

However it was far too large of a casserole for me to justifiably bake for my husbnd and myself, and it will be about a month and a half before my kids come over.  

 

I didn't want to wait that long.  I wanted to taste this gorgeousness NOW!

 

I also happened to have 3 large stale croissants here in the house leftover from when my husband bought some at Costco the other day. We had eaten as many of them that we could.

 

 I couldn't bear throwing any of them away.  This breakfast casserole was really calling my name.

 

Her recipe serves 8 people. We are only 2. What to do, what to do.

 

I reduced it by half and then by half again and crossed my fingers.

 

Just look at that.  It turned out perfectly!  Amazingly scrumptiously perfect!

 

You get flaky butter bits of croissant . . .  along with souflee-like bread pudding bits  . . .  interspersed with pockets of wild blueberry jam and nuggets of rich cream cheese  . . .  oh my goodness . . .

 

I love wild blueberry jam . . .  and fresh blueberries of course.  I just love blueberries and they work wonderfully in this. 

 

Raspberry jam and fresh raspberries would also work, and here's a thought  . . .  peach or apricot jam with raspberries, kind of like a peach melba . . .

 

She served hers with whipped cream.  I just happened to have a lovely tub of extra thick Jersey cream in the refrigerator.  You can't beat that.  Its perfection.

 

And so I dolloped a bit of that on each serving, about a tablespoon full  . . .  scrummy yummy . . .

 

Real Maple syrup  . . .  fresh blueberries   . . .

 

I am definitely going to make this for my children when they come over.  They are going to love LOVE it!

  

I just had a thought that would also be very good . . .  Orange Marmalade along with black berries  . . .

  

Oh my the possibilities are truly endless.  One thing is certain, I am making this again, and you deffo need to make this!

 

I am enjoying reducing recipes and trying them out in smaller sizes.  Its a bit of a challenge, but a most delicious one.  One thing I have learned is that its well worth it.  Don't ever let the size of a dish daunt you or make you think that you can't possibly remake it as a smaller  recipe.  What are some recipes/dishes that you would like to see me try to make smaller?  I am up for the challenge! 

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Our Camelia bush is already in bloom. It seems really early this year, but I saw daffodils blooming this morning and there are buds all over our bushes. The greening of England is about to begin and Spring really is just around the corner.  I look forward to Spring every year, but it also heralds the end of Comfort Food Season which I mourn just a tiny bit . . .  okay, MORE than a tiny bit. I am a comfort food lover at heart. I thought that it would be fun today to share ten of my favourite Home Style Comfort Dishes. Oh, to be sure we will have a lot more blustery days before Spring finally lands, but its definitely time to get in your last tastes of your comfort foods before its too late. Every single dish I am sharing here today is one that we love.

 

Stewed Brisket & Potatoes.   Crusty, buttery little drop biscuits . . .  tender in the middle and going oh-so-well with that beautiful rich gravy, potatoes and those tender chunks of meat!  

Macaroni Shepherd's Pie.  Shepherd's pie with the delicious twist of a layer of macaroni and cheese on top instead of the usual potatoes! Scrumdiddlyumptious!

 

Beef Casserole with Horseradish Dumplings.  Hearty and delicious! My own oven stew recipe with a lovely dumpling recipe borrowed from Mary Berry, and adapted to my own needs.  

 

French Onion Chicken.  All the flavours of your favourite soup  baked into a deliciously saucy chicken casserole beneath golden cheesy croutons. What's not to like!

 

Irish Stew.  Tender lamb and vegetables beneath a thatch of potato cobbles, in a flavour filled broth. Simplicity at its best.  

 

Chicken Savoyarde.  Tender pieces of cooked chicken beneath a rich and creamy taragon sauce, topped with crisp bread crumbs.  Delicious!

 

Beef, Ale & Parsnip Pudding. Kind of like a steamed meat pie, filled with lovely flavours.  Beef, parsnips in a lush ale gravy, served with cabbage and boiled potatoes. 

 

Chicken Rarebits with Melted Leeks.   A deliciously rich and indulgent chicken dish, which is simple to make and uses simple ingredients.   

 

Stuffed Cabbage Trou Style.  Layers of cabbage and the sausage meat create a magical taste combination that is unbeatable . . . the long slow cooking breaks the cabbage down until it is almost buttery . . . the juices of the cabbage and sausage melding together into a melting deliciousness that is just the best flavour in the world. 

 

Cottage Pie with Potato Cobbles.  This may be the most delicious Cottage Pie you've ever eaten and I don't make that claim lightly!  A really tasty meaty base topped with sliced rounds of potato and a layer of cheese baked until the potato cobbles are golden brown and everything is bubbling up nicely. 

Oh, I could have easily done 20 or more of my favourites.  This really is just the tip of the iceberg! 

 

Ham and Cheese Casserole. I am th Queen of leftovers. I hate waste and love to use everything up.  I especially love leftover ham recipes which make great use of any ham you have in the house. 

You don't always have to use leftover ham though, as you can also purchase a chunk of boiled ham at the shops which is great for things like this.

 

Today, however, I had some baked ham leftover from the holidays the other day and so I decided to make a delicious casserole with them.  

We were all sandwiched out! Mom always made sweet and sour ham with her leftover ham, but we weren't feeling much like that either.

 

Plus I had some fresh noodles whose sell by date was looming.  I hate waste and so decided to take advantage of both these things and make a tasty casserole.

 

It was pretty basic, and I did use a tin of cream of chicken soup.  You could however make a basic cream sauce, flavouring it with a bit of chicken bouillon if you wanted to.

 

I am not a soup snob and I do use it from time to time, especially when I am wanting to make a quick and simple casserole.

 

I also had some cheese leftover from the holidays, Cheddar and red Leicester  So I used up some of them as well.

 

They have very similar flavours so you could use all cheddar if you want to.  Both are hard cheeses and the red Leicester has been coloured orange. Most of our Cheddars here will be found in their natural, white state.

 

Both cheeses are produced in a very similar manner, but red Leicester has a moister, crumblier texture and a somewhat milder flavour.

 

I added thawed frozen green beans for a bit more colour and some texture.  Just cover them with boiling water, let them thaw and then drain well before using.

 

Mine were whole beans and so I used my kitchen scissors to cut them down into a more manageable size.

 

You could use any vegetable you wanted to use or even a combination of vegetables. Corn would be nice as would peas and carrots.

 

I topped the casserole with some cracker crumbs and a bit more cheese.  I find casseroles are always nice when you have a bit of a crunchy topping to enjoy!

 

This was quick, easy and delicious.  You could double the recipe if you had more ham you wanted to use up and freeze one casserole for a later time.

It is supposed to be 2 to 3 servings, but I'll be honest, for our appetites it is more like 4 servings. 

 

It all depends on how big of an eater you are. We are small eaters.

 

A tossed salad would be very nice on the side. My pictures are not so great as we have had some very dark and gloomy days. 

 

I like to use natural light for my photos if I can, so I apologise if they are a bit dark!

  

We enjoyed it simply with some buttered bread (for my husband) and pickled beets. I do so love pickled beets!

 

So that's all of the Christmas leftovers gone now.  We still have Christmas Cake, but that is a good keeper and my husband will make short work of that over the next weeks.  I also have some Christmas pudding, which he will also enjoy. 

 Those types of things never really go off.  I am relieved that I never did more baking and that I kept things simple here over the holidays and didn't go overboard! 

 

 

London Particular is a delicious Split Pea Soup!  The name comes from the famous fogs of London back in Dickensian times, which came to be known as London Particulars or Pea Soup Fogs. 

Fogs so thick that you could scarce see your hand in front of your face. 

 

From Wikepedia: Pea soup fog (also known as a pea souper, black fog or killer fog) is a very thick and often yellowish, greenish or blackish fog caused by air pollution that contains soot particulates and the poisonous gas sulphur dioxide. 

Not just common in Dickens's day these heavy fogs continued sporadically throughout the ensuing years.  In fact there was a particularly bad incident  in 1952 which was called "The Great Smog of London,"  which came to be known as one of the worst air-pollution events in the history of  the United Kingdom.

I think actually fogs such as this were quite prevalent throughout Europe, especially in the colder months when people were using their coal fires. My mother had a photograph of me standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1959.  You can just barely see me and only the feet of the tower as the fog is so dense and so thick.

 

I dare say those "Pea Souper" fogs were not as near delicious as this fabulous soup, London Particular, which had its beginnings at the Simpson's in the Strand restaurant in London. 

 

This soup is rib-stickingly thick and very delicious, and really quite simple to make!

  

My mother always made us lovely pots of pea soup after we had enjoyed a baked ham either for New Years or Easter.  

We always had a ham on those special occasions and the bone was always used to make a delicious soup.

 

Hers was done in the French Canadian style however, using whole yellow dried peas.  They are not so easy to get these days, and I have never seen them over here.  

We did so love her soup.  She used to make a huge pot of it and we would enjoy it once on the night, with the remainder being frozen for future use. 

 

Always whenever any of us (after we had grown up and left home) made the trip home, she would be certain to feed us a supper of this soup and another of her home baked beans at least once during our stay. 

I can't speak for anyone else, but for myself  I can say that this was something I always looked forward to and enjoyed very much.

 

This is not that soup, but it is just as delicious in a different sort of a way.  Its thick and flavourful  . . . and as I said, very simple to make.

 

You do need to begin by soaking the peas over night, so be prepared, you will need to do this in advance of making the soup, but once you have done that, the soup comes together very quickly. 

 

If you are lucky enough to have homemade ham stock in the freezer, use that.  I have never seen a ham over here sold on the bone and so I have never had a ham bone over here to make stock. 

Instead I relied on ham stock cubes to make my stock. You can also use chicken stock if you wish. 

 

Other than the split peas and stock, there is bacon, carrots, celery and onions.  Simple. 

 

As an homage to my dear sweet mother I chose to add a bay leaf and some Nova Scotia Summer Savory. You can leave those out and the soup will still be delicious, but if you have them to hand, I do recommend.  

You could in also use a bit of dried thyme instead of the savory, if you find that impossible to procure.  I bring mine back with me from Nova Scotia and keep it in my freezer.  It is that precious to me.

 

It takes about an hour and a bit to cook, so not that long really.  Once the peas are nice and tender, you then puree half of the soup.  

I used my immersion blender to do this. (Don't know what I would do without it!)  You can also use a food processor or a regular blender.

 

You then stir the pureed portion of soup back into the pot and reheat the soup gently, seasoning it to taste with salt and plenty of black pepper . . .  ready to be serve ladled into heated bowls . . .

 

Garnished with clippings of crispy bacon and chopped fresh parsley  . . .

 

As always Todd enjoys his soups with a piece or two of buttered bread or a crusty roll . . .

  

The North American in me prefers mine with crisp crackers and I always crumble some of them into the soup.  A "common" practice I know . . .  but a leftover from my childhood.  The heart wants what the heart wants  . . .

 

When I was a child I would crumble so many crackers into my soup that it became almost pudding-like . . .  I so enjoyed that.  Tomato soup was especially good this way, with a knob of butter melted on top. Oh boy, now I am drowning in happy foodie memories.  Yum!